Why Me?
by Engillinn
Summary: The blue-eyed Sayuri runs away from her village when a demon with red eyes attacks it. She accidentally stumbles upon Sesshomaru, who takes interest in her blue eyes, or rather where she got them. - Second person view. M for future scenes!
1. Chapter 1

You saw the little cabin from where you stood saying good bye to you friends, Yuki and Keiko. You were all exhausted from working all day long and you were looking forward to get some real sleep. The three of you talked for a few minutes about everything and nothing before Yuki and Keiko walked off home to two of the larger cabins and you walked to the poorer part of the village. As you came closer to your home, the slower you walked. When you reached the door and opened it slowly you felt the strong smell of sake in there and heard your father's snores. He was lying more or less on the floor and an empty cub was lying on the floor, a bit from his old hand, and a little sake was on the floor. You sighed and took the cub up and decided not to try and move your father and just go to sleep. He would just get cranky if he woke up while you were trying to move him. You took a little cat wash before bed and praised your idea of making this "wall" to seal you from the main entrance. At least you got a little personal space.

You thought about your father. You thought about how he had left you alone for all these years. He didn't do anything. You had to build the wall yourself, like you did everything else by yourself. He was normally sleeping, drinking, hanging with his drinking buddies, or he was fishing. The fishing part did happen every two weeks, though.

But, like always, you thought by yourself that it wasn't his fault that he drank a lot, it's just because of your moms death and all the other babies. He just didn't know how to get over it.

Your mom died when you were ten while trying to give birth to her eleventh child. She died from blood loss and the little baby boy was born dead, like the other ten children. You were your parents little miracle. Before you six children had died, after you four had died.

But, never mind that right now.

You and your father were the only ones left of your family, and you were the one working. You worked from sunrise to seven o'clock, but not on Saturday and Sunday. That would change in four months. Then you would be sixteen. A full grown woman, then you would get married and have children's of your own. You were looking forward to it, having children. You loved them.

You lay down on the mattress and you fell almost instantly asleep, not even having the thought of eating before lying down.

You woke up slowly this morning, sighing as you heard faint chirping of birds in the woods close to your home. You sat up and looked around for something to wear and jumped up to get ready to work just another day… Once you were ready you checked to see if your father had returned himself to his bed over the night, which he didn't, so you sneaked past him and found something to eat.

Your father was an elderly man. He had gray hair and a huge beer tummy. His face which had once been so happy and relaxed was now wound up tight and wrinkled, making him look so much older than he was. He was about 50 years of age, though he could pass for seventy. It saddened you. You had his eyes. The only thing you had received from your father since the age of seven. Or that's what it looked like.

Apparently you had your raven-black hair from your mother; your father's hair had been almost dark brown, a very light color compared to the norm. But you got your looks from both of your parents; they had been very beautiful when they were young. It was obvious from the start that the two of them would get married.

You shook your head as you realized that you were getting caught in the past again, so you got yourself a meal, made some lunch for you and got ready for work. Your work included many things. Like washing clothes, cleaning skins, cutting down meat, watch the children for the richer people in the village, cleaning Miss Atiro's hut, taking care of some animals and moving rocks from the mine and such. But that was only sometimes. And when someone got hurt some girls were trained for first aid. But for today, it was the mine for you.

You had walked out and you were thinking as you watched the sun get up before you. You felt heavy, this morning. It felt like some dark, gloomy cloud was hanging over your head. But there were no clouds in sight.

,,Hey! Sayuri!''

You turned around as you were walking up the hill to the mine. You saw Ritsu working his way up. You couldn't help but smile as you watched your best friend climb up the hill. You had known him since you could remember yourself and you were so glad that he was your friend. He was the kind of friend who defended you against teasing, the one who told you all the news, the one who helped you get to know other people.

You waited for him and when he reached you, you walked again: ,,Hi there, Sayuri.''

,,Hello Ritsu. How are you today?''

He gave you a wide grin and replied happily: ,,Surprisingly, I'm feeling wonderful. What about you?''

You couldn't help but smile back: ,,I'm feeling alright, thank you. How are you parent's?''

,,Good as well. I'm not even going to ask about your father. What a riot yesterday! He and Banji's father . . .''

You blushed and looked away from him, knowing that he was trying to convince you once again to leave your father's house and just live with him and his family: ,,Please don't tell me! It's enough that he was dead drunk at home yesterday. And this morning.''

He sighed and told you in a scolding tone: ,,You really can't lie, Sayuri.''

,,You know I can. I just don't have any reason to. Besides, you get this awful feeling in your stomach . . .''

He laughed and asked in a joking manner: ,,How do you know? HAVE you ever lied?''

You rolled your eyes at his comment: ,,Very funny,'' and then changed the subject: ,,Are you supposed to work here all day?''

Ritsu shook his head, scratching the back of his head awkwardly: ,,Naaaaaah . . . Just half of the day. It's my birthday, ya know . . .''

You felt a shock run through you as he said that; how could you forget? You tasked him quickly in embarrassment: ,,It is? I'm sorry, congratulations! You are sixteen now right?''

He chuckled loudly and replied with the same huge smile: ,,Yup! My parents are already waiting for me to find myself a wife!''

You nodded; at sixteen years of age you were considered an adult and so you should get married and begin an adult life. You smiled slyly as you asked him: ,,And do I know the woman that will get the honor of marrying you?''

At this, Ritsu blushed and stuttered a bit before spitting out: ,,Still have to wait four months for that.''

You were surprised; he already had someone in mind? You felt a bit sad, just a teeny bit, and you asked: ,,Really? When is her birthday?''

,,16th of May,'' he replied timidly. You stopped a moment, surprised, but relieved that he wanted to tell you. With a smile you told him, excited to find out who the mystery girl was: ,,What a coincident! That's my birthday . . .''

,,I know.''

You hummed as you tabbed your chin, thinking if you could possibly know the girl: ,,Does this girl live in the village?''

,,Yeah.''

That set you off track and you told him in a low voice: ,,But I'm the only girl in this village who'll turn 16 in the 16th of May . . .''

,,I know that too.''

You looked at Ritsu like he was crazy. You couldn't help but study him a bit, lost in the shock his words had put you in; his gray eyes were sincere, his black hair was a bit messy and too long, as always. He was much higher then you, you were only 5'5 and he was almost a head higher then you.

When you had gotten over your speechlessness, you asked in a low, annoyed voice: ,,This is a joke right? Are any of your stupid friends around hiding and waiting for me to fall in the trap?''

Ritsu was taken aback by your sudden annoyance, though he couldn't really be surprised; he often teased you, but it was never anything bad so you had always forgiven him after while. He replied with a loud voice: ,,No! How could I joke about something like this? I'm being serious, Yuri, don't you believe me?'' his voice became softer as he asked: ,,I thought you always believed everything that was said to you. You did that when we were younger. Like that time with the demon in the lake . . .''

,,That was a nasty thing to do . . .'' you mumbled. Ritsu laughed and said: ,,Yeah, but you believed it! But I have admit; I do often lie to you but I swear to you, this isn't a lie!''

He looked so desperate to make you believe him, and you couldn't stop yourself from asking: ,,But-But . . . Why?''

You shook your head as you tried to wrap your head around this. Ritsu had been your best friend since you were three. He had always been there for you and he was the one who helped you the most after your mother's death. When she died you ran to his house and knocked on the wall to his room. It was in the middle of the night, but he still came out and asked what was wrong, why you were crying. You remembered when you tossed yourself on him and hugged him like you didn't ever want to let go. You were scared that he would also die from you. You told him what happened and he understood. He comforted you and took better care of you if that was possible.

Ritsu rolled his eyes and asked annoyed by your stupid question: ,,Because; why do people get married, stupid?''

You shook your head again and asked, still in a kind of shock: ,,But why me?''

Ritsu sighed and scratched his blushing cheek, finding it hard to actually confess to you his feelings: ,,You can sometimes be very annoying, ya know . . .!'' he groaned as you just stared at him, wide-eyed: ,,Because I love you and I want to marry you!''

You continued to stare at him, dumbfounded; what? Loved you? You didn't know what to answer, heck; you couldn't even answer! You did care for Ritsu, but loved him? Marry him?

You looked away from him, blushing at his enthusiasm and told him in a low, confused voice: ,,I-I have to think about this, Ritsu. This is kind of a lot to take in, so early in the morning. I'm not even sixteen yet!''

The young man looked disappointed and a bit hurt, though he tried to sound calm and mature: ,,You don't return my feelings?''

You were at loss for words for a moment, what could you say? You had no idea what kind of feelings you had for him, he'd always just been Ritsu! After a moment you said carefully: ,,I don't know. I haven't thought about it, ever . . . I mean, I can't even get married for other four months, i thought I'd have at least until then to think about marriage and stuff!''

Ritsu looked relieved; at least you hadn't given him a "no". He smiled and grabbed your hands in his, telling you in a bit of a understanding voice: ,,Of course! I get it; it's a bit sudden, and out of the blue, but please, think about it, Yuri!''

You tried to avoid his gaze, blushing and feeling uncomfortable, before nodding awkwardly. Then you looked at the position of the sun from the corner of your eye and changed the subject again: ,,We're late . . .''

Ritsu sighed as he looked at the sun as well. Then he let your hands go. You continued walking up, but it looked like you were sleepwalking. When you got to the mine, Mister Yo started to yell at you two being late. When he paused to take another deep breath and between your begging for forgiveness Ritsu said: ,,It's my fault Sayuri is late. My mother wanted to talk to her. Can we now go to work?''

Mister Yo grumbled something about young people today, but left. You had been looking at your toes for the whole time and mumbled something that was supposed to be thanks and you left to your work. As you were pushing heavy carts of rocks you thought about Ritsu's proposal. Did you love him?

No. You really cared for him though. You just looked at him as the best friend you could have. And he would never be something else and more. You couldn't think of a life as Ritsu as you husband.

You had to say no.

It was finally lunch time and everyone went home to eat. You just walked to a nearby lake. It was pretty far from the mine and just perfectly close so you could hear when work started again, so you could relax.

You were sitting on one of the rocks and your legs were in the cool water. You loved this place. It was so calm and quiet, and sometimes some animals came to have a drink. Suddenly you felt something crawl up your arm. You got stiff and looked slowly down on your hand. Your face went white. A caterpillar was on your hand.

,,! GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF GETT IT OOOOOOOFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!,,

You were screaming the same thing hysterically until you noticed the caterpillar was gone off you hand. You sighed and sat down. As you were going to relax a bit before work, you felt the earth shake. Not like there is an earthquake, but something else. You raised yourself up and listened carefully. What was that? It sounded like yelling and screaming . . .

,,The village!''

You ran to the village and just as you were getting out of the forest, a big herd of animals came running your way. A big boar came running your way, but you through yourself from it and tried not to get hit by any of the animals. When the last bird was gone you ran again to the village.

,,Please be okay, please be okay!''

You got to the mine and sniffed as a stench filled the air. The smell reminded you of fire, and when the animals were slaughtered. Burning flesh and boiling blood. You ran to the hill and you froze by the sight. Every house was burnt down. Everywhere were bodies lying, burnt or sliced into pieces. The fence with the animals had been tarred down, and they were all dead. By the farer end of the burnt down village, there was a pile. Of bodies. All the children you had been taking care of and many more, they were all there. Their little faces marked with fear and terror of the one who slaughtered them.

You were numb, didn't know how to react. Then you finally came to your senses and ran down wards. You knew you were much too late, but you just couldn't accept this. You were almost down, when you tripped and fell to the ground. You hadn't noticed, but tears had been flowing down your cheeks without your permission.

You stood back up and wanted to go to your home, see if Ai or your father were still alive. But you thought by yourself: ,,It's better not to see them dead, better to have the memories of them living in my mind.''

You didn't go any further. Better not. You would only feel more grief. You sobbed and saw the middle of the village in between the flames. There was someone there . . .

You narrowed your eyes and saw that it was a man. His red eyes wandered over the destruction and a cold smirk on his lips told you, that he was amused by the work he had done. Then his eyes looked over the flames and they landed on you.

You fled; his eyes following you every step to the forest. You fled as fast as you could. Tree branches hit your arms and bushes tied down your legs. But you still kept going, wanting nothing more than getting away from that evil man. But the picture of your burning home was stuck on your eyelids. The burning houses, the earth red with blood from those that had been your friends and co-workers, boss or even just neighbors; the little children who had died from the pain of blood loss when their arms were cut off or legs. They had watched their parents die, trying to help them.

How could anyone be so evil? Killing innocent children and grown-ups, and destroy a whole village.

You couldn't understand evil. Nor did you understand how people can be evil, or how evil they could be.

It felt hard to breath, and your legs could barely move. Your heart was trembling and your breath was unstable. You collapsed on the grass and lay there, without moving. You tried to catch your breath, but as soon as you did, you sobbed and cried. When tears denied coming, you sobbed and, you didn't even notice it, you fell asleep

You heard something. You opened your eyes slowly, and noticed that it was getting dark and colder. But this sound, a little girl? Then some other tone, annoyed answered the girl; then again the little girl's voice, and then a new one, a male's voice. And then nothing.

You blinked your eyes. Persons? Since when was there any one in the woods? Where did they go? Why is there all of a sudden quiet? Why did they go?

You pulled yourself up, your legs shaking and you noticed your cuts and bruises from before. You paid them no mind, though and walked towards where they had been, the voices. Then when you were starting to think this was just something your mind made up you heard the little girl: ,,I can't hear anything . . .''

,,Quiet.''

The male voice spoke. Just few trees away from you. You stopped. Then the male voice spoke again: ,,Come out, wench. I do not have time to wait for you.''

%How did he know?%

You were scared to death, both because the killer in the village was still in your mind, and the voice was cold as ice. You still decided to go. Things couldn't get any worse, could they?

You bit your lower lip and tried to breathe normally as you took your first steps to . . . Who? For all you knew they could be just as cruel demons, desperate to kill any human being.

But you still kept going towards them, until you saw the little girl, maybe 8-10 years old, with black hair and big eyes, a little imp, green and ugly fellow with huge eyes like dishes, and the most beautiful man you had ever seen. His golden eyes looked at you coldly and his long white hair swift with the wind. He was tall, in a white kimono with red sleeves, armor, and something yellow and blue wrapped around his waist.

He was still watching you and his gaze told you that he wanted, no, demanded to know what the hell you were doing, crossing his path and you should show him respect. But probably the first thing you noticed where the demon markings on his forehead and chins. He also had a large fur thingie on his shoulder.

You didn't know what to do, your mind told you not to show a demon your respect, but to fear him like death itself, but this demon told you that if you wouldn't show him respect, you would die. You still looked him in the eye, scared to death of doing something that might make him unpleased. Suddenly he drew his sword from its sheath and walked your way. You felt your face pale up and your stomach turned inside out. This was it; he was going to kill you!

Your heart trembled and you couldn't believe this was happening. Then the little girl yelled: ,,Look out, lady!''

You watched her finger pointing behind you and quickly turned around. A spider demon was running your way. And the first thing you could think of was a long, high-pitched scream.

You ran to the closest shelter there was, the beautiful demon. Then a little slice-sound and a low bump-sound after that told you the ugly spider demon was dead.

You looked up from behind the demon, one part of the spider demon was lying on the ground and the other one, with the eight feet on, was just falling to the ground. You looked up to the demon with the golden eyes which was still waiting for you to do something. You were already on your knees, so you bent forward saying quickly: ,,Arigatou gozaimasu! Thank you so much sir! I'm, sorry for disturbing you and your company, I'm so sorry! Gomen nasai! What can I do to show you my gratitude and thank you? I can do everything, anything that need to be done! I beg of you to let me thank you!''

The little girl giggled a bit and you fought yourself not to look up to her. She said: ,,I don't think I have ever seen anyone so grateful to you, Sesshomaru-sama! Or to anyone! She is funny! I like her! Please can we take her home? Please, Sesshomaru-sama?''

There was dead silence. You were still lying face down in front of him. Then he spoke: ,,Give me one reason, human wench, why I should take you to my home.''

You thought carefully over every compliment you had been given or the past few years, your talents and everything that could help you on this moment. Then you picked your words with accuracy: ,,I'm really hardworking, I don't give up on difficult tasks. I can clean, I can cook, I know just about anything that a woman needs to know. I follow orders without hesitation. I . . . don't have anything that slows me down anymore.''

The ugly imp said with impatience: ,,Lord Sesshomaru, I think we should move on. This human wench is dead anyway.''

He spoke coldly and calm to the imp: ,,Are you giving me advices on my decisions Jaken?''

The imp yelled in a scared tone: ,,Of course not Lord Sesshomaru! I just think it's best to leave the human . . .''

,,Jaken-sama, I think we should let Sesshomaru-sama decide. But I really want her to come, then she can play with me!''

Again silence filled the little clearing. Then the demon, Lord Sesshomaru, said: ,,Then you will be Rin's babysitter. And if you fall behind, we will not come back after you. Now, get moving. Enough time wasted.''

Then he walked past you before you could say thank you. The little girl yelled: ,,Yay! Thank you, Sesshomaru-sama! I bet she'll be the best one, ever!''

Then she walked to you and took your arm: ,,Wow, now we can be friends! What's your name? My name is Rin, and this is Jaken-sama, and that is Sesshomaru-sama!''

You smiled to the little girl, still confused, and said: ,,Hi Rin, my name is Sayuri.''

The girl, Rin, smiled brightly and told you with her eyes shining with excitement: ,,Okay, Yuri-chan, but we have to hurry, or else we will fall behind. And Sesshomaru-sama doesn't like it when I fall behind. C´mon!''

She took your arm and dragged you up. She then ran after that little imp, Jaken, and Lord Sesshomaru. You stared at his back as he walked away from you; now you worked for him and you had to do as he said, no matter what. You were a servant now.

,,Yuri-chan, where do you live?''

You jumped and caught up with Rin who was looking back at you with a smile. You blinked at her, thinking of what to say, being careful to not begin crying: ,,I . . . nowhere. I don't live anywhere anymore.''

,,Why?''

That was an honest question. You decided that honesty should be rewarded with honesty: ,,Because my village was destroyed. There is nothing left of it.''

The smile turned into a sad frown and she asked: ,,That's sad. Who did it?''

Flashes of the red eyes staring at you made you shiver; who? You told her in a low voice: ,,I don't know. I wish I did,'' you didn't want to talk about your village anymore, feeling the tears close by: ,,But where do you live Rin?''

The girl smiled once again and told you with a small hop: ,,I live with Sesshomaru-sama! I have two rooms, one for my dolls and one for me to sleep in! I can't wait to show you all my dolls! And then we can go out and play with my ball! Do you know how to read Yuri-chan?''

You were kind of confused by all the information she was giving you, so you didn't even think before you told her: ,,Yes I do. My mother taught me to read.''

You felt like biting your tongue off; reading was not something a girl of your stature should know. It wasn't a thing women should come close to. But Rin seemed impressed and excited: ,,She did? I wish I had a mommy who could teach me to read.''

You looked at the little girl with sadness in her eyes as you asked her carefully, not sure if this was a delicate subject or not: ,,Don't you have a mommy?''

She looked at you and stated: ,,No. But I have you now. I know! You can teach me! Sesshomaru-sama doesn't have time, and Jaken-sama doesn't want to. Please?''

She looked at you with the biggest puppy-dog eyes you had ever seen and you couldn't help but smiling: ,,Of course, I'll do my best!''

Another hop and a huge smile: ,,Thank you Yuri-chan! But where did you get these scratches from?''

You looked at your arms and saw some bruises too. You looked at your feet and saw there some scratches. You answered, awkwardly, trying not to get to caught into it: ,,I was running through the forest. I was in a hurry.''

She looked at you with wide eyes and asked in a honestly curious voice: ,,Why were you in a hurry?''

This kid had all the questions in the world! You still didn't want to talk about your home. Your heart was still aching from it. You told her the first thing that came to your mind: ,,It was getting late. I was hungry, so I was hurrying home through the forest.''

Rin nodded, obviously taking this explanation valid and asked: ,,Are you hungry now?''

,,Why do you ask?''

She explained, asking her questions obviously seemed to entertain her: ,,I just wanna know. The other babysitters say that I can be a little brat sometimes. Am I?''

Rin looked a little hurt, wanting you to accept her and be her friend. You smiled to her, glancing up when you felt the attention shift from ahead to you and your answer. The girl meant something to the two demons, even though they didn't show it at all. Rin was still waiting for your answer and you smiled even brighter to her: ,,What? A brat? For being curious? Silly people, it's healthy to be curious. Unless you are too curious, haven't you ever heard that curiosity killed the cat?''

Her eyes widened as you said this and you explained: ,,Of course we're not talking about an actual cat, it's just a saying. It means that sometimes, being too curious can cause you trouble.''

She asked honestly: ,,Really? I didn't know that! I don't want to get in trouble. Why am I curious?''

That was a question which really didn't have an answer. You felt the attention the two of you had move away from you, the pressure disappearing. You hummed for a moment, looking up at the reddening sky: ,,Why are you curious? Let's see…''

Rin waited patiently while you thought about what to answer, until you came with the final conclusion: ,,I think you just want to know things. Like, I wanted to learn to read, so I could know what the books say. Normally girls don't read, but me and my mother where different. We liked reading and drawing. And writing.''

Rin's face lit up, and you thought to yourself that you did an excellent job avoiding the very, very sticky question: ,,Me too! I love drawing! When we get home, we can draw together too. But I'm getting tired.''

You looked up again and just saw where the moon was getting up, and the sun was setting. It really was getting late. You were hungry and little Rin too. Lord Sesshomaru hadn't said a word and Jaken just was there, probably glad being not the one in interrogation by the little girl. Lord Sesshomaru stopped and said: ,,Jaken, find food. You, prepare it.''

Jaken answered him: ,,Yes my Lord.''

,,Yes, Lord Sesshomaru.''

You were smiling again and you made a little fireplace as Jaken got back with something to eat. You didn't like cooking. But you liked making something for others. You cooked the meal and you ate. Lord Sesshomaru had been sitting on a rock for the most time, but once he left without saying a word. Then he came back and you didn't want to be rude by asking where he went. You were in general a very polite girl. And you hated to see a nice place in total mess.

But you were looking forward to working at Lord Sesshomaru's house. What was the staff like there? Would you be happy? Would you be Rin a good babysitter? You sure hoped so. You looked over the quiet group and then Rin started to talk, or more like annoy Jaken with her talk. You stayed silent and watched them talk about something. Rin was talking about how nice the flowers were and Jaken was talking about how foolish it was thought of her. When Rin saw that she couldn't convince Jaken that flowers were pretty, she turned to you: ,,What do YOU think Yuri-chan? Do you think that flowers are pretty?''

The toad like demon blew up and yelled: ,,It doesn't matter what this pathetic human thinks of that!''

Rin argued: ,,But I wanna know what Yuri-chan thinks!''

,,Maybe she doesn't want to answer your stupid question, foolish child! Now stop asking stupid questions, Lord Sesshomaru will get tired of them!''

Rin turned to the demon sitting on the rock. He didn't open his eyes, and Rin said: ,,I'm sorry, Sesshomaru-sama. I didn't mean to disturb you.''

He didn't response. He just sat there. Rin looked content, though, and stood up just to sit back down next to you and whisper: ,,I'm tired Yuri-chan. Can we go to sleep?''

You smiled and whispered back to her: ,,Yeah, sure. Come on. We should let Jaken-sama know we are going to sleep.''

Rin smiled and yawned. You felt a bit warm in your heart; at least you could divert your mind somewhere else. You got ready for sleep with the girl, and so there was nothing left for this day, then go to sleep and wake up the next morning.

It was dark. You couldn't sleep. It just wasn't real that you were sleeping in the middle of the forest with people you didn't know, a youkai, and an imp, and of course a little human girl. It didn't make any sense at all. You sighed and knew that you wouldn't be able to sleep. At least not yet. You had slept most of the day so you weren't tired at all. But you knew you guys would walk the whole day tomorrow.

You went completely still; what was that? You could swear you heard music. It was faint, but it was there. You felt feelings bubble up in your chest, so mixed, so many and so strong! Suddenly you were anxious to stand up and go for a short walk. As you stood up you noticed that Sesshomaru was still on that rock.

% He must have a thing for them or something . . . they at least look alike when it comes to personality . . . %

You smirked by these thoughts but returned to your normal, sweet self. You looked around, trying to figure out which way to go. You looked to the east. Where was the music coming from? You wanted to go there. You took one step to the low music when a stony voice said: ,,Go back to sleep.''

Your heart almost stopped as you turned around and looked at Sesshomaru. You weren't sure you heard him so you whispered timidly: ,,I'm sorry, my Lord, what did you say?''

You almost jumped again when you heard his deep voice cut the night. You felt a stronger pull to his voice than to the music you were hearing: ,,Go back to sleep. If you follow the music, you will die.''

You felt a bit of stubbornness built up in your body, and you asked him as politely as you could: ,,I'm sorry I have to ask my Lord, but why?''

He had barely moved, but his eyes opened now, the golden orbs glowing in the darkness, ,,Because the demon that is singing is luring you to it, it is looking for a meal. Do I have to repeat myself.''

You blushed as you realized that he had just saved your life. You then humbly replied: ,,No, my Lord, I'm sorry.''

You lay back down and tried not to listen to the music.

You lay on your back, trying so hard not to listen to the music. It was still calling you. You saw a sudden movement where Sesshomaru was. You looked quickly in his way, just quick enough to see him disappear to the east.

% He's probably going to slay that demon or something like that . . .%

Then just moments after that thought, you fell asleep, too tired to keep yourself awake, but the last feeling you felt, much to your surprise, was safety.

_**You were walking in a clearing, with millions and billions of flowers all around. They were white roses, with small thorns. Then suddenly, fire blew up. Everywhere, except a small path, which you ran to. You felt eyes looking at you**__**;**__** red, evil eyes.**_

_**Then the path ended and you were in another clearing, but the roses were deep red, with sharp thorns. You walked to the middle of the clearing a**__**nd took one up. The thorns stung**__** your fingertips, and they bled. Then, as the low whisper of the wind sang in the trees, and the flames **__**threatened to get closer, you saw Ritsu. He came walking from the flames, and a cold smirk was as plastered on his lips, and he reached out his hand, as to grab you.**_

_**He got a hold of your arm. His hand pulled you to him, and you fell in his way. His eyes were staring at you manically and he said: ,,I need you**__**,**__** Yuri. Come with me. We will live forever, in the next world . . .''**_

_**You felt your heart say no. You wanted to protest, **__**feeling your whole body telling you not to go with him; you had something else waiting for you, even though your mind was telling you that it was maybe for the best. B**__**ut it was like you were paralyzed**__**; you could neither deny him nor go with him**__**. He walked slowly to the fire that was all around you**__**, dragging you with him**__**. You felt the heat from the flames**__** on your skin**__**. Ritsu was in the middle of the fire**__** holding you tightly so you couldn't get away**__**. The flames licked his body, and his flesh burned. You saw his hair burn up and his hand that held your arm was the only thing left of the old Ritsu. His eyes were still there, staring at you, and his black skull, with the same cold smirk. Then he pulled you to the fire. The burning pain, as you felt the yellow, red and orange flames burn your skin to the bone. Your hair was on fire, and the heat was unbearable. A blood chilling scream escaped your lips, for a moment.**_

_**The fire was out. Everything was black. You felt dread in your heart, you felt naked and exposed. This wasn't good. Then your father came from the shadows and said angrily: ,,Where the hell were you, Sayuri? I wasn't supposed to die, you worthless daughter! You can't ever do anything right, now can you? Just like your grandmother! Always daydreaming about demons, like your mother. You are the one who should have died, there is no one who cares about you, anyway!''**_

_**Then he disappeared, leaving you with tears in your eyes, and no sound coming from you, no matter how you tried to scream at him**__**. Then Keiko and Yuki came**__**, making you see stars from the pain in your heart:**__** ,,Where were you**__**,**__** Yuri? Where were you when we needed you? We are dead because of it! You are the only one alive now! Just because you didn't want to be at home with your poor father! We are almost certain about that you didn't care about us, or your father. You should be ashamed of you**__**r**__**self! We HATE you!''**_

_**Then they disappeared as well. Tears streamed down your cheeks but no sound came from you. You closed your eyes, and when you opened them again, all of them were in front of you**__**, Ritsu in the lead**__**. Their burned hands locked themselves around your arms and dragged your to the fire.**_

Your eyes quickly opened and you took a gasping breath. Everything was dark, and the night air was refreshing. You were too warm and sweat was dripping from your forehead. Your breath was uneven, but there was no sound around you. You looked around and saw that everyone was still asleep. You lay back down and tried to calm yourself down again. But tears still forced themselves from your eyes and ended either in your ears or the fell to your hair. You sobbed until you finally fell to a dreamless sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

*Flash back*

Your eyes quickly opened. Everything was dark, and the night air was refreshing. You where too warm and sweat was dripping from your forehead. Your breath was unstable, but there was no sound around you. You looked around and saw that everyone was still asleep. You lay back down and tried to calm yourself down again. But tears still forced them self's from your eyes and ended either in your ears or the fell to your hair. You sobbed until you finally fell to a dreamless sleep.

*End of Flash Back*

* * *

The next day you woke up with a loud voice, and little hands shaking you. You slowly opened your eyes, not quite understanding what was going on.

,,Yuri-chan? Wake up! We have to go to the spring and eat and you can't wake up late! If you will, Sesshomaru-sama will get mad, especially if you fall behind! Come on, sleepy head!''

Your eyes sprung open at that and the first thing you saw was the fiery red glowing ball in the east. The second things were two big brown and cheery eyes. Then a huge smile and you jumped up. You blinked your eyes and tried to see things right. Everything was foggy and the colors fell into one another. Then you said sleepily: ,,Good morning Rin. How are you today?''

Rin giggled by you sleepy appearance, and said: ,,I'm feeling good! But I want to get a bath! Lord Sesshomaru said that there was a nice spring to the north, really close! C'mon!''

And with that she ran to the north and you just followed slowly. When she was almost out of sight, you called out to her: ,,Rin! Slow down! If you keep running I'll lose you!''

Rin slowed down and waited for you to catch up. She laughed again and told you gleefully: ,,You look so sleepy Yuri-chan! Didn't you sleep well last night?''

You thought to the nightmare and shivered. You just replied: ,,I went to sleep a lot too late. Is this the spring?''

,,Yubb!''

It was a little spring, tiny, actually. Rin was getting ready to go to the water and you told her to wait a moment for you to check the warmth of the water. It was near the warmth of your finger. A little warmer, you were always a little cold on your fingers.

,,Can I go now, Yuri-chan?''

You looked at the little girl that had stopped with her kimono half way off. You smiled and told her: ,,Yeah, just don't go to the farer end, it looks deeper.''

She looked happy with that and replied: ,,Okay, Yuri-chan!''

With that she stripped and jumped to the water. It was warm in the sun, and the water was heating up as the sun rose higher in the sky. You weren't so sleepy to forget to take some clothes to dry yourselves. You carefully looked around, to check if you saw anybody, and listened if there was anyone close. You heard nothing and so you let your kimono fall and placed it near the spring. Your mind traveled down memory lane, and you remembered once when you and some of the girls in the village were taking a bath, you got careless and left you clothes by the forest. And ten minutes later the clothes were gone. It turned out that the boys had taken them and were peeping at you.

But, now, you were in a spring with a little girl, you knew her name was Rin, she was eight, and she lived with a demon lord. And by the things she said, the demon was the lord of the Western Lands. He had been very silent and mysterious, cold and very formal looking and it was beginning to seem that he was like that all the time. He didn't like humans like yourself, or half demons. Just pure demons. And Rin said that he didn't even like them much at all!

%Does he even have any friends? Family? There must be somebody... Well, there is Rin. He doesn't look like he likes his servant, that Jaken fellow. Well, he must have someone... Maybe like a wife, or something. Maybe she's at the castle? Well I don't know...%

,,Yuri-chan! Hello? Sayuri?''

You were still staring into space and then the next thing you knew, a big water splash hit your face. You gasped for air and you slipped in the slippery ground and your whole head went down to the water. When you got a hold of something you pulled yourself up again and looked at the laughing Rin. You looked at her shocked and asked: ,,Why did you do that?''

Rin was still laughing and you got closer to her. She stopped laughing when she saw you standing before her and you said in a dark voice: ,,You won't get away with that little girl!''

You picked her up and she was back to laughing and yelling. Then when you got to the middle you dropped her. The spring was so small that reached to your navel. So it was just deep enough so Rin would not get hurt, and just ground enough so could stand up straight with her head up from the water. Or almost. Her head came back up and she laughed and coughed a little too. She swam around you with only her eyes and nose up from the water. Then, when she was behind you, she attacked. You fell into the water and yelled dramatically: ,,Nooooo!''

Rin was still laughing and you played for a while. But when you estimated that you had had enough time playing you said: ,,Well Rin, we should hurry back. Let's wash our hair and make us look pretty.''

Rin looked at you confused: ,,Why?''

,,Why what?'' you were surprised by the question. Rin then explained: ,,Why make us pretty? We are only going to walk in the wood...''

You shook your head and told her with a smile: ,,That doesn't mean you can't be pretty! C'mon!''

You grabbed her hand and led her near the ground. She stood there while you went down on your knees and made her sit down. You massaged her head and got all of the dirt out. You pealed out some leafs and grass and used some sand from the ground to her hair. Then you let her head in the water and cleaned the mud out.

,,Now your hair is clean! I want you to clean your body now, and if there is a hard stain, use the sand. It can be really useful.''

Rin looked at you wide eyed, but just nodded. You saw some flower near the spring and smelled them. They smelled nice so you took some to a rock and smashed them with a smaller one. You got a little bowl from one of you pockets and smashed them more and added some water. Then you poured it on your head and all the way to the ends of your hair. You did that to Rin too.

,,What was that for?''

,,Now your hair smells like the flowers.''

,,Really?''

,,Yubb, you said last night that you liked flowers. Now you smell like one. C'mon, we should get dressed.''

You got dressed and walked to the "camp" again. Breakfast was ready and you ate and then you started walking. Rin was blathering and talking about random things, fighting Jaken about why she should stop talking and then talking to you.

Then you again went to sleep somewhere and nothing special happened the whole day. The next day began just the same. Then some action started.

,,I'm so bored! And it's so warm! Yuri-chan...''

You looked at the little girl. It was beginning to be a habit of hers to call your name if she needed anything. Except if she needed food, or wanted to explore something for a bit.

,,Yes, Rin?''

Patience really was a virtue, you were experiencing. The girl was beginning to push your buttons: ,,I want to do something! It's so boring to walk all day…''

,,Rin, I'm sorry, but I don't know what we can do. We are just going to have to walk until we stop.''

,,But…''

Thankfully Jaken was as tired as you were, only with much less patience than you had. He snapped at Rin who pouted: ,,Stop this at once stupid child! Lord Sesshomaru will be getting tired of your stupid needs! Now, be quiet!''

Rin then did her usual thing whenever Jaken suggested that something annoyed the Lord; turned to Lord Sesshomaru and said: ,,I'm sorry, my Lord. I didn't mean to…''

And then she finally stopped talking. You stared at the grass trying to find something for the little girl to do and find some way to make you feel cooler. It was unusually hot for January, no snow, no cold wind, just warm, sun shining straight down at you and no wind at all. Unusual.

But Rin found something to do. She was running and exploring at all the new things around you. She knocked on the trees and smelled the flowers. She giggled happily and was just a happy little girl. Then Lord Sesshomaru stopped. Rin dropped dead and so did Jaken. You just stared at them, wondering what happened. The Lord glanced north, then glared into the west, before _**sniffing**_ a little. You were just about beginning to get used to that. Apparently he was a "dog demon", so his sense of smell and hearing was spectacular.

Lord Sesshomaru then decided that someone, or something, was approaching from north-west. He walked slowly to that direction and stated: ,,Wait here.''

Then he disappeared. You blinked and felt really stupid; what the heck? How did he do that? What was that about? You sighed silently and stood still. But then, from the south of you, a man approached. By why Rin had taught you, you guessed that it was a fire demon.

% Explains the heat here . . . What am I thinking! There is a _**demon**_ attacking!%

Rin screamed and you froze. You had never been attacked by a demon before, and not by a demon that was practically human like. Well Sesshomaru was an exception.

He was different from anything you had ever seen; he had red hair tied back in a tail down his back, and purple eyes. He was wearing a white headband on his forehead and a necklace wrapped around his neck. The necklace was some kind of a stone, completely white and a little blue, it was maybe a crystal, and it was hanging in a leather band. He had a matching earring and on his black leather cloves where four of the same stone. He didn't have any shirt on, and you eyed the five-pedal tattoo he had on his chest, but he did have something green wrapped around his chest and yellow pants. There was a smirked aimed directly at you. You felt a blush creep up your neck and looked over to Jaken, who was obviously freaking out, thinking that he could fight that demon.

,,What are you doing here, demon?''

The demon smirked wider and his eyes seemed to glow just a bit brighter, and he said cockily: ,,Just thought about checking who you were,'' and waited for an answer. He then raised an eyebrow and asked a bit louder: ,,Well?"

Jaken, taken aback, yelled at him: ,,Humph, we don't need to answer your questions, demon! Leave right this instance, before Lord Sesshomaru gets back!"

The demon crossed his arms, obviously amused by the toad, though he did look awfully a lot over to you with a weird look. He then asked Jaken: ,,Why should I?''

Jaken seemed to puff up and was about ready to explode. You were beginning to wonder if the toad was actually as strong as he seemed to think he was. You bit your lip, drawing Rin closer to you and looked around carefully to see if you could see Lord Sesshomaru anywhere close. Jaken yelled again: ,,Because he will kill you! Not that you need to know.''

The demon laughed. Then he looked at you again. The smirk was back on his face and he said slowly, almost thoughtfully: ,,Whatever. But what do we have here? Something special, now don't we. It was your scent that I picked up, right? And that little girl there, strong smell of a demon… But she's human.''

You stared at him, since he looked like he was talking to himself more than you. When he began nodding as he watched you and Rin, only glancing at Jaken, you couldn't stop yourself from saying in a low voice: ,,You're _**weird**_… Wow.''

The demon stopped nodding and actually looked at you, surprised. You blushed, the thought that you would actually one day get killed because of your stupid comments running through your mind, but much to your surprise the demon just asked with interest: ,,And you are? Young… Thing?''

Thing? Your eyebrows furrowed, but you still told him politely: ,,I'm a woman. Well, I'm still a girl, but not for too long. And my name is Sayuri. Who are you?''

He narrowed his eyes into a glare and asked cautiously: ,,And why would you wanna know that?''

You shrugged slightly, not really having a reason: ,,Most likely the same reason you wanted to know my name. Best guess is that it was curiosity. Could I have your name, please?''

,,Kai.'' He said after a moment of hesitation. He looked at you suspiciously, but you didn't mind. You wanted to see if you could maybe get more information out of him than Jaken: ,,And, if I may ask, what are you doing here?''

He glared, a quick head throw to get the bangs out of his eyes: ,,Hanging around. I'd ask you the same thing.''

You shrugged again, wondering the same as he, before stating the obvious: ,,We're walking.''

,,Where to?''

,,Why should I tell you?''

,,If you don't I'll kill you,'' he said as he let his hands hang down by his sides, summoning what looked like flames in his right hand. His eyes showed that he was actually considering what he just said, but you decided to take a leap of faith, even though you had stopped feeling your legs for a minute by now: ,,I don't think you will.''

You felt a pang of victory when you saw a flicker in his eyes; you were right! He asked a bit annoyed, though he seemed amused at the same time: ,,And why is that, _**Sayuri**_?''

You wet your lips and told him slowly, thinking as you spoke: ,,Because, Kai, I don't believe that killing us will solve any problems of yours.''

He looked confused. The flames in his hand died out and you were glad that Jaken had stopped talking and Rin's shaking had stopped. You took a deep breath, wondering how in the world you were able to keep yourself so calm, let alone talk to this demon like you were. This demon, Kai, asked, curiosity coloring his face and the surprise covered his words: ,,What the hell's wrong with you? You a priestess or somethin'?''

You eyes widened when you saw his calm demeanor fly away and you asked him back, kind of offended since you had had bad experiences with priestesses in the past: ,,What do you mean by that?''

He shrugged, looking like he was almost angry: ,,You're being all peace-loving and stuff! You won't live very long in this world that way; you can count on that… !''

You almost began pouting: ,,I don't think that's any of your business, what my opinions are. And what is wrong to be against killing?''

He shrugged, annoyed but cooled down again: ,,Because it's the law; kill or be killed. That's it,'' he suddenly shifted his posture, looked like he was listening to something. Then he glanced at you before turning around: ,,And that's my queue. That Sesshomaru guy will be coming back soon. Nice chat or whatever…''

And with that he was off. Like he wasn't ever there. Then maybe two seconds later, Lord Sesshomaru came back. He looked annoyed, the first feeling you had even seen him show, and turned instantly to Jaken, asking: ,,Who appeared.''

Jaken jumped, still half-frozen from the encounter with "Kai". He then began explaining: ,,My Lord, it was a fire demon, named Kai. He apparently wanted to know what we were doing here!'' Jaken glanced over to you, before pointing with his staff and telling the Lord accusingly: ,,He spoke with the girl for quite a while!''

Jaken's staff pointed at you and you blushed slightly, not sure if it was a bad thing that you had handled the situation better than Jaken. Jaken continued: ,,They speaking of our reasons for traveling around here! And she got him to tell her his name and they spoke of many other things!''

Rin, who had been weirdly silent for this whole thing, cut him off, angrily, by saying: ,,Lord Sesshomaru, she didn't say anything about where we are going, just that we were walking. She didn't say anything important!'' She paused, before asking in a sweeter tone: ,,But where did you go, Lord Sesshomaru?''

The silver haired demon lord growled the teeniest bit. You were surprised by this whole thing; the heck did just happen? Lord Sesshomaru then replied to Rin, obviously not really paying attention to the girl: ,,A demon was in our path. We will continue.''

And he began, once again, walking to the west. And that was how the rest of the day was spent. Walking, talking to Rin about the demon and other things. When you stopped for the night, Rin asked Lord Sesshomaru: ,,Lord Sesshomaru? When will we get home?''

,,Tomorrow.''

,,Okay!''

You were making dinner from the meat Jaken gave to you and you really didn't want to know what it was. Fifteen minutes later you looked around and saw that you and Jaken were the only ones left.

You had a small heart attack and asked shocked: ,,Where did they go?''

Jaken glared at you: ,,None of your business, human!''

You got angry and hissed at him: ,,When it comes to Rin it is. Now, do you or don't you know where she ran off to?''

Jaken, offended and surprised, said that he didn't know, so you stood up and told him: ,,I have to go and look for her. Can you make the food just for tonight? I have to find her.''

,,Alright…''

You left the camp and walked around in circle, yelling: ,,_**Rin**_? Rin? Where are you? Answer me! Rin?''

You didn't hear anything from her. You sighed and didn't know what to do. If you wouldn't find her Lord Sesshomaru would most likely throw you out, not that you had seen your new home, or worse; he would kill you. You got anxious to find the little girl and ran in the woods. She wouldn't hide from you on purpose so she must be somewhere close, that's what Lord Sesshomaru had told her.

,,RIN! Rin! Where are you? Don't hide form me! I have to find you Rin! I'm losing my patience! Come out!''

Nothing. Tears were beginning to form in your eyes. You blinked as fast as you could to get rid of them. Everything was foggy and it was getting dark. Then you heard her giggles. You felt hope swell up in your heart and ran towards the sound. When you found her she was sitting in a sea of flowers. They were white, pink, red, purple, violet and many other colors. Behind her was a small hill. She looked at you surprised and yelled to you happily: ,,Yuri-chan! See what I found! Aren't they pretty!''

You threw yourself down by her and grabbed her arm. You took a deep breath, letting your tears get "sucked" back and almost yelled at her in a pitched voice: ,,Rin! Why did you go so far away? I was so worried about you!''

Rin's bright smile disappeared and she asked almost heartbroken: ,,I'm sorry, Yuri-chan, did I scare you?''

Tears were in her eyes and she was about to start sobbing, but you hugged her and told her gently as you felt yourself calm down from the shock: ,,Oh no, don't cry, it's ok Rin. I'm sorry for being so angry, I was just really worried,'' you patted her head and told her in a soothing manner: ,,There, there, stop crying. It's okay, honey. C'mon, let's pick some flowers. You can make a really pretty necklace with them, and you can teach me how! How do you make them stick together?''

Rin, with a wet face and eyes which were beginning to redden, looked at you surprisingly: ,,You don't know how to make a flower necklace? But it's so easy!''

You smiled down to her and wiped her face: ,,Well, I also think it's easy to read, but do you know how?''

,,No . . .''

,,You see! We all know something that others might not know. Like I know how to read, and you don't, and you know how to make flower necklaces. And so, everyone can teach someone something! Like I can teach you how to read and you can teach me to make these. So, are we alright now?''

,,Yeah. I'm still sorry for going so far. I didn't mean to.''

,,It's okay, Rin. I did that too when I was your age. But, I'm getting hungry. Aren't you?''

She thought of what to say. Then she said: ,,Nope! I want to play!''

You smiled. It wouldn't hurt, if you'd play for a short while. It would be a while before dinner would be ready, anyway.

You smiled to her again and nodded: ,,Okay, but just for little while. Dinner is almost ready; Jaken is making it tonight. But don't run too far away from me. I can't run as much as you, okay?''

,,Okay!''

You two stood up and Rin ran around you. It was somewhat of "her thing". She yelled at you, smiling: ,,You can't catch me!''

,,Wanna bet?''

You reached out and almost touched her. She shrieked and ran further away. You chased her and laughed. She ran up the hill and you after her. You grabbed her by the waist and picked her up. She laughed harder and you spun yourselves in circles. Then you let her down and sat down yourself. You both were still laughing and trying to catch your breaths when you looked down the hill. There was a spring. For a moment you weren't really sure, so you narrowed your eyes; you could have sworn . . .

%Oh my…%

You blushed deep red. Rin looked the same way as you. Her reactions were a lot different from yours. She smiled and yelled: ,,Hi, Sesshomaru-sama! How is your bath?''

You looked at Rin and scolded her quickly: ,,Rin, you don't ask a person that question unless she is out of bath!''

,,Why?'' she asked innocently. You quickly told her: ,,Because, he is still in his bath! He isn't wearing any clothes…''

Rin looked confused: ,,So?''

You had forgotten for a second that Rin was only eight. You were still blushing heavily and accidentally caught yourself staring at Lord Sesshomaru. He didn't really look like it mattered to him that you were looking at him.

_**Wow**_. He was beautiful, where he was half lying and half sitting in the spring. His muscles were perfect. His body build was perfect. His hair was beautifully silvery-white and it had a little red glow because the sun was shining on it, making it shinier. He was the perfect man.

Then it hit you; what you just said. No clothes.

You jumped up and took Rin's hand to drag her down the hill again. Rin yelped in surprise and then she yelled: ,,Why are we running?''

You didn't answer. You were too ashamed of you actually walking in on your "master". Not only that, but the feeling you felt. You felt drawn to him…

When you couldn't run more you let Rin go and tried to catch your breath. Rin asked: ,,Why did we run away from Sesshomaru-sama?''

You thought about what to tell her for a moment: ,,Because . . . Because we didn't want to disturb Lord Sesshomaru, now did we?''

,,No, not really…''

You snapped your fingers and pointed at her: ,,That's because. Now let's get back.''

You walked back to camp, still blushing. You tried to think of something else but the picture of the demon in the spring. When you got to the camp, Jaken didn't seem to notice anything unusual. You ate and Lord Sesshomaru came back. You didn't look at him, he didn't say anything. Then when everyone was done eating, Rin taught you to make a flower necklace but you didn't really get any of what she was saying. You did manage to do one crappy necklace. Then you said: ,,Well, I guess we should call it tonight.''

Rin nodded as she yawned: ,,Okay… Good night Jaken-sama, good night Sesshomaru-sama!''

Neither answered her. Jaken gave a little humph-sound, and Sesshomaru was sitting by a tree. Silent. You felt like growling at them. You shrugged it off and lay down, close to Rin. And you finally flew into dreamland.

The next day, or more like night, you woke up by yourself. You actually had a good night sleep. Rin was still sleeping and so was Jaken. Sesshomaru was still by the tree. You stood up and walked silently to the spring. It was pretty far away, but you wanted to look at yourself, alone, for a while. When you got to the spring you sighed and kneeled down. The water felt fresh on your face and it was still cold since it was still so early. If you tried, you could see red mist step off around the mountains in the east.

You took of your shoes and set the down in the cool water. You looked at your reflection in the water and explored again your familiar face. Same dark blue eyes and same black hair, same lips and teeth, same ears, same head, same neck. Everything was just the same as before. Except it really, really wasn't.

You stood up and thought of walking back. That got cut off. Just as you turned around you bumped into someone. You fell backwards, able to save yourself from falling into the water. You had closed your eyes while falling and now you opened them carefully, as if you expected someone to yell at you angrily. You made a sudden noise of surprise; it was the fire demon from yesterday, Kai.

,,What are you doing here?''

He looked surprised by your reactions, but smirked amusingly: ,,It's not like you own the place.''

You were suddenly very aware of how close to him you were standing, and took a small step back, feeling your heels get wet. It didn't look like he was going to back away from you, so you settled, telling him in a slightly annoyed tone, afraid that he might be here to hurt you: ,,No, and fortunately it isn't yours either. Why did you sneak up on me?''

Kai smirked wider, obviously feeling the tension in the air: ,,That's one of the quirks of being a demon; you can sneak up on people if you feel like it.''  
You raised your eyebrow, wondering if lord Sesshomaru would come to your rescue once again or if you'd have to save yourself this time: ,,A half demon in your case, isn't that right?''

His smirk disappeared like a rock is thrown in calm water. He raised his own eyebrow, realizing that you were better informed on him than he had personally told you and asked a tad angry: ,,How did you know?''

You swallowed your fear and stated calmly: ,,Well, Jaken is a demon himself. He said so.''

Kai narrowed his eyes in suspicion and irritation; this clearly wasn't a topic he liked. You wondered, of course out loud: ,,Are you always irritated, or angry?''

As he growled you realized how rude that sounded, so you added: ,,I don't mean to be rude! I just… I just don't understand how a person won't smile. I smile all the time, for example! Like Lord Sesshomaru, he doesn't smile at all! _**Never**_! That's what Rin has told me, anyway.''

You backed from him, your whole right shoe getting soaked, when he looked even more annoyed. You told him timidly: ,,But, you know, I have to leave… We… the others will wake up soon, and I don't want to fall behind…''

You walked past him, and just as you did, he grabbed your arm. You squealed: ,,Please, don't hurt me!''

Kai let go of your arm, with a surprised expression on his face. He recovered from your squeal and told you slowly, though not angry: ,,I won't hurt you. At least not yet anyway,'' he smirked again: ,,See you around, Sayuri.''

And with that he ran off. You felt your body shake, both from the cold and from the shock of actually getting away with your blabber-mouth. The sunlight hit you, and you stared to the east, captivated by the sunrise. You jolted as you remembered; the others!

Gasping in horror of having forgotten, you began running as fast as you could back. Just as you reached the clearing you saw lord Sesshomaru's back, and Jaken arguing with Rin: ,,But we can't just leave Yuri-chan! She's my friend! Can't we just wait a little bit longer? I know she wouldn't leave us!'' Jaken argued back: ,,She probably used the chance to leave as soon as she could, silly girl! She's gone!''

Rin shook her head: ,,No! We're friends!''

You reached them, grabbing Rin's shoulder: ,,Hey, I'm sorry! I'm here!''

Rin smiled, tears still in her eyes, and hugged you tightly: ,,Yuri-chan! Where have you been?''

You tried to catch your breath as you answered: ,,I woke up early… and wanted to clean my face… Went to the water... Someone stalled me…''

Jaken blew up and hissed at you,,Well don't let it happen again, you stupid girl!''

You glared at Jaken, having had enough of his insults, and asked in a venomous tone: ,,Do you call everyone stupid, toad?''

He didn't say anything at first, surprised that you were answering him. But he answered you quickly enough: ,,No. Only the stupid ones.''

Your face got a bit twisted in a scowl as you hissed at him: ,,Then you should start talking about yourself in third person. Stupid toad… !''

He was going to reply but you interrupted him with a smug smile: ,,Be quiet, stupid toad! You are starting to annoy Lord Sesshomaru.''

If the imp would have normal skin color, he would be red now. Then, very offended, he turned away and started walking after Lord Sesshomaru. You smirked until the Lord turned around and glared suspiciously your way. You froze and lost your breath again: ,,I'm sorry, my lord, have I done something to offend you?''

The Lord walked to you. This was the second time ever you had seen him so close. He was gorgeous. Maybe you would have noticed if he hadn't been glaring at you, almost like he wanted nothing more than for you to burn up to ashes. You began shaking from the ice-cold coming off of him when he then asked uninterested, mono-toned: ,,What is your relation to that half-demon.''

Your eyes got bigger, if possible, and you asked him politely: ,,I'm sorry, my lord, I do not understand the question… ?''

His voice was like cold water in your face: ,,Do not act dense, human. How are you acquainted with him.''

You had a voice in your head telling you that he was most likely referring to Kai, and you asked him in a low voice: ,,I'm sorry, is my lord perhaps talking about Kai, the fire demon from yesterday…?''

You barely got to finish you sentence when he almost snapped at you, clearly losing him patience: ,,Who else should I be referring to. You reek of his stench, you came in close contact with him.''

You shook your head and stared at lord Sesshomaru wide-eyed before you bowed down and explained quickly: ,,No, my lord! I don't know him, I swear! I met him for the first time yesterday, when you were somewhere off! He just came, and you know what we talked about! When I woke up this morning I went to the spring and I was looking at myself in the water and when I was going to leave I bumped into him because he snuck up on me while I was in the water! We talked about why he was here, I mean there, at the spring, and he said that I didn't own the place and I said it wasn't his either, and said something more and when I was leaving he grabbed my arm, after I had told him that I needed to return here, and I asked him not to hurt me, and he didn't and he said that he would see me around! Please, my Lord, I swear that's the truth!''

You realized that you had talked nineteen to the dozen and closed your eyes as tears formed. Your heard began beating faster, harder in your chest.

% I don't believe that he will hurt me. I don't think he's that cruel . . .! He can't be!%

A low growling sound came from him. Then he said: ,,Get rid of this stench immediately.''

You opened your eyes slowly, unsure if you heard correctly: ,,Sorry, my Lord?''

His glare was colder than an ice storm and he growled at you again: ,,I told you to get rid of this repulsive stench; bathe yourself, roll around in the dirt, I do not care; I will not allow anything to enter my house reeking like a wretched half demon.''

You were speechless; did he really just… ? Really? You bowed again and told him: ,,Of course my Lord! I will go right away. But…''

You chocked. You weren't brave enough to ask; would they wait for you? You tried to swallow your tears and asked instead: ,,The spring is to the south?''

Sesshomaru, who had narrowed his eyes when you looked like you were going to cry, answered coldly: ,,Yes. You have five minutes.''

That was all you needed. You turned to the south and ran. When you came to the spring, you almost tarred your kimono off and kicked your shoes off. Grabbing the closest flowers you rubbed them all over your body. You skin was red and soar after the rubbing and you felt the tears you tried to swallow earlier flow down from your dark blue eyes. You jumped into the spring, splashed around for a minute, rubbing, diving, and jumping up from it again. You shook your body and tried to dry it with your hands. As soon as you were dry enough, you got dressed and put your shoes on. You ran back to where they were. When you got there you almost fell down from exhaustion; your legs were shaking and after bowing you looked up to lord Sesshomaru with a hot feeling in your heart. They all watched you as you took a deep breath to stabilize yourself. Then you stood up straight and asked lord Sesshomaru, as the hot fiery feeling in your heart got stronger: ,,Am I alright now, my Lord?''

A small silence as Sesshomaru looked you up and down. You knew you were soaking wet, your kimono barely tied up right and your skin was still red. He then stated coldly: ,,No. But it will have to do.''

He began walking to the west. You stared at his back, stunned, still hadn't caught your breath. You felt your heart take a harsh beat; damn, you were beginning to hate him.

* * *

Alright... This is coming along quite nicely! Btw, if I haven't mentioned it already; This chapter was first written in 2005 or 2006. So please bear with me; I'm re-writing it so it will at least not be thickened with all the horrid fluffy, teenage-y, too-good-to-be-true stuff. Or something like that. So please, feel free to let me know what you think.

- E.


	3. Chapter 3

*Flash Back*

Sesshomaru, who had narrowed his eyes when you looked like you were going to cry, answered coldly: ,,Yes. You have five minutes.''

That was all you needed. You turned to the south and ran. When you came to the spring, you almost tarred your kimono off and kicked your shoes off. Grabbing the closest flowers you rubbed them all over your body. You skin was red and soar after the rubbing and you felt the tears you tried to swallow earlier flow down from your dark blue eyes. You jumped into the spring, splashed around for a minute, rubbing, diving, and jumping up from it again. You shook your body and tried to dry it with your hands. As soon as you were dry enough, you got dressed and put your shoes on. You ran back to where they were. When you got there you almost fell down from exhaustion; your legs were shaking and after bowing you looked up to lord Sesshomaru with a hot feeling in your heart. They all watched you as you took a deep breath to stabilize yourself. Then you stood up straight and asked lord Sesshomaru, as the hot fiery feeling in your heart got stronger: ,,Am I alright now, my Lord?''

A small silence as Sesshomaru looked you up and down. You knew you were soaking wet, your kimono barely tied up right and your skin was still red. He then stated coldly: ,,No. But it will have to do.''

He began walking to the west. You stared at his back, stunned, still hadn't caught your breath. You felt your heart take a harsh beat; damn, you were beginning to hate him.

*End of Flash Back*

* * *

As soon as you guys had started walking again, Rin was by your side. She said as to comfort you: ,,I don't smell anything Yuri-chan. I can smell flowers from you.''

You smiled sweetly to her and answered: ,,Thank you, Rin. But remember; Lord Sesshomaru has a much better sense of smell then we do.''

Rin hummed before she nodded: ,,Oh yeah… Why are you always right, Yuri-chan?''

You glanced at her, surprised: ,,What do you mean?''

Rin looked up at the sky between the branches, folding her arms as she tried to sound more grown up: ,,Well, for example, Yuri-chan, like just now, when you knew that lord Sesshomaru has a gooder…''

You smirked and corrected her: ,,Better.''

A small index-finger flew up in the air as she corrected herself: ,,_**Better**_ sense of smell than humans, like us, do.''

You nodded, noting that you understood her, and then you asked for the point: ,,And?''

She looked at you and asked loudly: ,,How do you do that? Know stuff, you know.''

It was your time to hum. You put a finger on your chin as you told her slowly: ,,I guess it because I try my best to remember things I have been told, to memorize them and use the knowledge when I need it. You can do it too, very soon if you try hard. Just listen to what you are told, and you'll know many things. Or you could read it, or write it down so you'll remember it maybe even years from now!''

Rin smiled and began skipping around you in circles: ,,Yeah! You are going to teach me how to read and write! As soon as we come home, right?''

You nodded and smiled: ,,Yeah, as soon as we come home,'' you looked at lord Sesshomaru's back and wondered how long it would be before you would arrive "home". What was it like? Would it be nice? Would it be big? Grand? But most of all; was it far away?

You had started to feel the familiar pressure in the lower back and slight pain in the lower stomach. By the last two years, you would start tomorrow. You sighed and just minutes after those thoughts of yours, Rin shouted: ,,We're here!''

You looked up and you saw it appear between the trees; a large house with a garden and a fence around it. The garden was filled with flowers, trees and things you didn't even know existed; never had you seen anything like it. You did notice a pond with a tree nearby though, as the gate opened, seemingly by itself. The house on the other hand almost no decorations. It was weirdly plain, even though it was the biggest house you had ever seen. It even had two towers facing each other, one in the west and the other in the east. It was on at least two stories, and what was the most peculiar was that it was all made of stone. You wondered it it were really balconies you saw on one of the side, and if the roof actually touched the sky like it looked like it did.

You had come to a halt in the garden, even though most of the flowers weren't even in bloom, just looking at all the things around you. Lord Sesshomaru continued along with Jaken to the huge door which lead inside the castle-like house. Rin finally grabbed your hand and dragged you towards the house.

The big doors opened before the lord and his green imp by one push. Rin pulled you and you awkwardly followed, staring inside the house which seemed even bigger on the inside. There was a staircase right to the right of the entrance, and down a hallways straight in from it were doors on each side and you could barely make out a dark door at the end of it, since there wasn't much light that far in. To the left was another hallway, but it was shorter and only one door there in. You looked back up to the stair case and noticed how high the loft was. It was so bright in here, lights were placed on the walls with the perfect space between them.

You looked up from where sunlight seemed to ooze in and took note of the very, very high roof the entrance hall had. Way up were a couple of windows whence the natural light came from.

Rin had let you go in the middle and stared at you with a smile: ,,Do you like it?''

You weren't sure what to answer, you weren't even sure _**if**_ you could answer. You smiled and twirled slowly in the middle of the room. When you were finally going to answer, you halted to a stop under the freezing stare of the Western Lord, Sesshomaru: ,,Rin. Tell the cook to prepare a meal immediately.''

You couldn't help but shudder as Rin ran off to the hallway to the left and disappeared through the door on the end of it. You thought you could not for the life of you stop the smile which flew upon your face as you looked around once again; a small giggle got out. Your hand clasped over your mouth and you looked at lord Sesshomaru, half-terrified.

,,What entertains you.''

You bit your lips nervously and took notice that the lord had sent Jaken away somewhere are you had been observing the house. You then smiled to him, not knowing what else to do: ,,I've never seen such a beautiful house. Or so big! It is so huge, and unbelievable! And the garden is almost otherworldly and everything is just so… Dreamlike! I literally want to pinch myself to wake up from all this!''

A small giggle slipped out from your lips. It felt like your birthday; you were so excited to be on a new place. To get to live here. From time to time your family and friends would pop up; what would she think of this? What would he say about this?

You tried your best to bury them down, the time to cry again wasn't here yet, and so you just let yourself get lost in all of these new things.

You looked back down from the ceiling and blushed as you realized how silly you must look and bowed slightly towards the ever so cold Sesshomaru: ,,I'm sorry, my lord, for how I was acting…!''

,,Your room is upstairs.''

You looked back to the lord who was walking graciously up the stairs, without effort and soundlessly. You followed quickly, still a bit stunned by the hugeness of everything. When you were up on the second level the luxuries continued, portraits of people, so beautiful that you became dizzy simply by looking at them, armors standing by each door, the first one on the right, the next one on the left. Vases, flowers, carpets on the floors, windows high up on the walls, and further down they came lower and what seemed like balconies lay straight ahead.

But what you specially took notice of was the lack of personality in the house. You thought back and couldn't remember anything which indicated what kind of person your new lord was.

You had looked down as you begun trying to remember anything and almost yelled out when you accidentally bumped into lord Sesshomaru's back. You jumped back, feeling your face turn crimson in embarrassment and you began muttering: ,,I'm sorry, my lord, I didn't mean to…''

,,Your constant apologies are irritating me.''

Your eyes widened and you asked hesitantly: ,,I'm sorry, my lord?''

Lord Sesshomaru glanced back at you, ice in his stare and his voice stone-cold: ,,What did I just say.''

When nothing followed, you guessed that he was really questioning you, even though it didn't sound like it: ,,That my apologies were annoying you… ?''

,,And what did you reply with.''

You felt stupid, like a child when you realized: ,,I apologized.''

You held your own hands, feeling nervous and uncertain of what to say. When lord Sesshomaru didn't continue, you asked him in a low voice: ,,When what shall I say, my lord?''

A small, cold pause in the air made you feel even more nervous, until the silvery-white haired lord told you harshly: ,,Nothing, unless you have to.''

He began walking again, so you quickly replied: ,,Alright, my lord,'' wondering if it was something you didn't have to say. You followed him to a door which he opened and told you in the same emotionless voice: ,,This will be your living quarters. Rin's room is the one at the end of this hallway. If you have any questions you will ask Jaken or the other servants. I will not be bothered by any questions.''

You nodded, resisting the urge of peeking inside the room: ,,Yes, of course, my lord,'' you hesitated before you brought up what you thought would be the last stupid question you would ask: ,,What should I do now, my lord?''

He simply gave you an icy stare before he turned and walked away. He left you standing in the doorway, so you decided to peek inside. Your mouth must have almost dropped to the floor at the sight; this was huge! The room had a strange bed, it was big, high and on four feet! You could even peek under it if you felt like it. It was fluffy beddings, all in a soft blue and whites, the room itself painted in a light color. Each side of the bed kept a small table with drawers, a nightstand as you had read about in the books, with glasses on them. On the other side of the room, right across from the bed was a closet and a desk next to it with writing material! Your hands covered your mouth as you noticed the door behind the flapping curtains, leading to your very own balconies. You gave into your desire to run out to them and gasped once the outside world was revealed to you. They even had a banister! It was from stone, like the whole house itself. You felt tears swell up in your eyes, but you paid them no mind and looked over the land before you. It was still a bit cold, of course, since it was only February, the grass was that weird yellow-brownish color, but the sky was blue and the clouds white, birds sung from the forest and inside the garden you wondered how the flowers could be blooming this time of year. Also, you made a small jump over the pond with the big tree.

You took a deep breath, feeling shivers running down your spine from the cold breeze in the air, and walked back inside, noticing the door by the closet and opened it only to make your eyes almost pop out again. It was a bathroom.

A bath, a toilet, one of those sinks you had heard about and you wondered if you were the one who would have to fill it up every day and where you would get the water to do it. The pond?

You also had a mirror! And a brush, toothbrush and everything you needed and somethings you weren't even sure what were.

You backed out again, and slowly sat down on the bed: ,,Oh my. What… How did this happen? Everything is so _**hug**__**e**_!''

You looked around and murmured: ,,Well, I might as well get cleaned up, since I have the bath here…''

You were kind of shy about it at first, and you were sure how to use this or that or the other thing. You did find soap but you weren't sure what to do with the water…

When you finally got out of there you wondered what you should do with your dirty clothes, and better yet, what you could change in to. You wandered over to the closet and opened it, gasping as you saw all the clothes inside, shoes on the floor, even underwear!

You took a deep breath and took one out, careful of not dropping the towel wrapped around your body, and awed over it; it was very much like the one you had except that it was from a much finer fabric and much, much, _**much**_ more beautiful. It had two shades of dark blue and it was long and so light in your hands. You pressed it against your body and gasped as you realized that it would fit you. You hummed as you told yourself that it would probably be a bit loose around your chest, but you'd just have to wrap it tighter around you. You placed it carefully on the bed and went back to the closet to grab socks and the underwear.

,,And how do I wear this… ?''

It took you're a couple of minutes to get dressed fully, even the shoes fit you! You had a mini-heart attack when you saw yourself inside the closet, only to realize that it was another mirror. But you titled your head as you tried to fix your hair, wondering how these clothes could make you look even a little decent. You smiled: ,,These clothes are so beautiful! I wonder who owned them?''

You did have the habit of speaking to yourself on occasion, which was almost exclusively when someone was around. You jumped when you saw Rin behind you in the mirror. She smiled and told you as you blushed: ,,You look so pretty, Yuri-chan!''

You thanked her and asked her: ,,So what do we do now?''

Rin smiled and grabbed your hand: ,,We can play!''

She dragged you out of your room and to the hallway, you were able to close the door behind you, and continued to the room on the left of the room lord Sesshomaru said her room was…

When the door opened you gasped over the number of dolls. Maybe a dozen, but you had never seen so many dolls in one place. Some weren't even soft, but made from clay. Words fell from your mind as you looked over them all: ,,Woah! You have so many dolls!''

Rin glanced at you from the table she had sat down by and asked surprised: ,,You really think so?''

You smiled and sat down as well as you told her about the doll you had, the one you had made yourself a long time ago…

An hour later someone knocked gently on the door. You and Rin had been talking while she was "introducing" you to her dolls and you jumped slightly at the sudden sound. The door opened and once again you were amazed; it was a strange looking girl, wearing what seemed like a servant outfit. Her hair was this weird kind of light brownish-yellow color and her eyes were a light shade of brown. She smiled politely and pushed her hair behind her pointy ear and asked in a low voice: ,,Rin-sama, it is time for lunch.''

Rin jumped up and hugged the demon girl-servant, telling her in a pitched voice: ,,Natsu-chan! I missed you a lot! And don't call me Rin-_**sama**_, it's stupid!''

The girl, "Natsu-chan", smiled and told the child: ,,I'm sorry, Rin-san. I missed you too, you were gone for quite a while this time.''

You stood up with a small smile on your face, unsure of what to do or say. Finally "Natsu-chan" looked at you with a smile: ,,But forgive me, I still haven't met your new friend, Rin-san.''

Rin turned to you with a smile and introduced you: ,,This is Saya-chan! She's my friend!''

You bowed and corrected Rin, since you didn't want everyone to go and call you "Saya-chan": ,,It's nice to meet you, my name is Sayuri.''

The girl, whose name was Natsuko, greeted you but asked you to follow her to the dining room quickly. You followed her down the stairs again and down the hallway in the middle and through a door to the left. You were kind of glad to see the normal, but very fancy, dining room. The table was a bit longer than you were used to, made from some kind of dark wood, and the whole room was this weird baize color and a mild dark green. There was a door in the farther end of the room, which you assumed lead to the kitchen.

Lord Sesshomaru was already seated, looking cold and mean like you were used to. Rin dragged you to the seat which was apparently next to hers, only two seats away from the master of the house. The room was quiet, even Rin didn't say anything which kind of made you an awkward kind of nervous. But then suddenly the door opened and out came another demon girl… Well, actually, many duplicates of a pink haired demon girl. You stared at the girl with your eyes wide open and your mouth about to hit the table; pink hair, purple eyes and at least three of them, all looking exactly the same down to every last string of hair!

They filled the table with foods and drinks and were gone as soon as they came in. You looked at Rin with wide eyes, but didn't dare to say anything. The silence was almost deadly and Rin just smiled back to you before she waited for lord Sesshomaru to begin lunch. The three of you ate in silence, you tasting things for the first time, things which looked so fancy and pretty that you didn't even really want to ruin them by eating them.

You noticed that lord Sesshomaru's hand stopped midway up to his mouth once, but quickly continued. You did wonder for a minute why but you also knew better than to ask questions in this deadly silence. You jumped when you heard a bang from what you thought was the door leading outside, Rin confirming it when she turned around with a stunned expression on her face. You turned around as well when the door to the dining room was opened quickly and a gorgeous young man walked in. He had double colored hair, the front of it as white as lord Sesshomaru's and the back as black as yours. His eyes shone with hidden humor, silvery-gray. His hands had the same kinds of claws like lord Sesshomaru, and he was dressed in black, blue and red. He wasn't very tall, fairly slim grown and looked even younger than Sesshomaru. You also thought of him being a bit too feminine and maybe even a bit angry.

,,Lord Sesshomaru.'' He said calmly before he stopped before the still eating lord with his hands crossed. Lord Sesshomaru's eyes opened slowly and he glanced at the demon. He then addressed him calmly: ,,Lord Katsuro. What are you doing here.''

Lord Katsuro smirked and told him, obviously annoyed: ,,Have you really forgotten it so easily? We agreed to discuss about the Northern Lands.''

You glanced over to Rin, who shrugged and continued eating. Lord Sesshomaru was doing the same and said in his emotionless voice: ,,I had not forgotten. We had agreed that you would come here later this week. Did we not.''

Lord Katsuro shrugged, still smirking: ,,Well, I found that later this week is not possible because of my schedule. I have time now.''

,,I do not. Leave.''

You glanced at lord Sesshomaru, surprised that he dismissed his colleague so rudely. But lord Katsuro laughed and asked the cold lord: ,,Ah, you don't have time for any appointments which involve me, Sesshomaru, I'm awfully aware of that fact …'' his silver eyes stopped on you and bobbed between you and Rin for only a few seconds: ,,But may I ask what two human girls are doing here, eating at your table?''

You felt Rin's hand find yours and you squeezed it as you glanced at lord Katsuro and lord Sesshomaru. Your master was taking a sip from his cup when lord Katsuro asked. He then answered with his eyes still closed: ,,No, you may not.''

You noticed Katsuro's eyebrows rise and he asked quickly with a mean smirk: ,,Are we softening up?''

This time lord Sesshomaru opened his eyes and glared. He then said: ,,Spit out what you are trying to say.''

The smirk on the younger lord's face grew and he began walking around, eyeing you: ,,I believe that you know all too well what I am implying, Sesshomaru. You've been alone for a _**very**_ long time. Having a human woman in your home has to have some kind of benefits for a demon such as yourself. Or,'' his eyes sparkled as he stopped his slow walk: ,,You are going soft for humans, which would be more interesting indeed.''

You could feel the hostility oozing from lord Sesshomaru's person. Staring down at your food you tried to control the goose bumps appearing on your forearms and the chill down your spine, as well as the blush creeping up to your face, lord Sesshomaru replied: ,,Who, or what, dwells in my quarters is none of your concern. And do not even assume for a minute that I would stoop down to your level of companionship. It is you who has been attending the villages, is it not.''

Katsuro smiled slyly and replied with an almost greasy tone: ,,They are the best ones for a one-night stands, whether they want it or not. But you,'' he paused, a pause which Rin decided it would be best to ask you: ,,What is a "one night stand"?'' in a low voice. You stared at her, blush increasing, but you answered her in a hurried whisper: ,,It's, umh, something grownups do with people they like.''

Rin's big brown eyes shone with curiosity and she asked: ,,Like what, Yuri-chan? Kiss and stuff?''

You looked back down at your empty plate and nodded quickly: ,,Sure. Kiss and stuff.''

,,What kind of stuff?''

,,Rin, not now, I'll tell you when you're older. Be quiet and eat the rest of your food, please?''

,,But why…?''

You were suddenly very aware of the silence in the room and realized that the attention had shifted onto you and the child asking about sex. You felt horror strike at your heart and you closed your eyes: ,,Because, Rin. Just eat, please.''

Tentatively she obeyed with a small glare of stubbornness, but you hoped that she would let go of the matter. You prayed to every god you knew that the silence would stop now and you were glad it did, only to feel embarrassed again: ,,Very nice, young lady. Very nice indeed. What is your name, if I may be so frank?''

You glanced up at lord Katsuro with horror; was he seriously talking to you? What was this? Would you answer? _**Could**_ you answer? You looked at lord Sesshomaru, asking for some kind of a permission, only to get another question from the other lord: ,,Oh, come now, you can answer! He doesn't own you, does he?''

This confused your even more, especially since lord Sesshomaru didn't even look at you now, so you just looked back at lord Katsuro and answered as politely as you could: ,,My name is Sayuri, my lord.''

You felt his gaze begin to change, now more intense, like he was trying to take your clothes off with his eyes. You felt blush creep up your face once more, cursing in your mind. Lord Katsuro didn't take his eyes off of you when he said: ,,Huh, fresh meat? Where did you find this gem, Sesshomaru? She is absolutely beautiful.''

Lord Sesshomaru's simple reply was: ,,Leave, Katsuro. There is no point in you being here.''

Katsuro sighed and waved his hand: ,,Oh, pissed off already, are we? Fine, I'll hang around until you've cooled down. I'll be staying for a night or two, until you're ready to talk business.''

He winked at you and told you in a low voice: ,,I'll be seeing you around, little diamond.''

You blushed again at his remark and were glad that he walked out. Rin was looking at your for an explanation, but you just shook your head and smiled to her: ,,Finish your food, okay?''

She was leaving her veggies, making you sigh as you realized that she was one of the kids who hated to finish their food and would rather sit outside in the rain than eat her veggies. Rin began poking the vegetables, glancing at you: ,,I'm practically finished, you know… ?''

You nodded: ,,Yes, I can see that. But you only have four bites left, as soon as they are done we can go play.''

She did seem interested in playing, but the thought of having to eat the veggies was obviously a bad one. She told you in a low voice: ,,I don't really like vegetables. They're yucky!''

You smiled: ,,Yeah, I know. But they're good for you, make you big and strong and stuff. The sooner you eat them, the sooner we can go.''

The black-haired child poked her food while humming for a second. She glanced at you again, eyed your dish and noticed that you had finished _**all**_ of your food. She was obviously trying to decide what to do, but all you could think of was; am I going too far? You felt lord Sesshomaru's gaze on you and you didn't want to look up. You were feeling confused and upset about lord Katsuro's remarks, not really believing that he was an actual lord.

You asked Rin in a low voice: ,,Well?''

She began to pout: ,,I'm so full…''

You felt your mood get heavier. You asked her: ,,Just three of them, please?''

,,But they're so icky and yucky, Yuri-chan…''

,,They're healthy and strengthen you up. I know you can eat at least three bites.''

,,But I'm so full…''

,,Do it for me?''

She stopped, glancing up at you. She looked uncertain of what to do; wanting to please you or wanting to keep up the stubbornness of not eating the food she had been given. When she didn't do anything you had said before you knew it: ,,For lord Sesshomaru?''

You froze for a moment, hoping to the heavens that this would not be a bad thing. Dragging the lord into a small child's bargaining was probably something very, very frowned upon. You glanced at the lord and saw him narrowing his eyes at you. Rin had looked at him as well: ,,Sesshomaru-sama?''

His narrowed gaze didn't leave you: ,,Yes, Rin.''

,,Do you want me to eat my vegetables?''

Some sort of tension filled the room. You looked up at him and accidentally met his gaze. It was like a trap; you were being hypnotized. You saw nothing but his cold golden eyes, like ice cold metal. You suddenly shivered and then warmth spread from an unknown place, all over your body. You tried to stay calm, but it felt as if he was looking right at your soul. You felt defenseless, and naked against this ice cold stare. Then he spoke, deep and cold: ,,Rin, eat your food and leave.''

You felt cold realization spread throughout your body; what had you done? You had locked eyes with your master, the lord of the western lands, a demon. You knew that in some places this was so banned that the master could beat the servant for this kind of disrespect, even kill him.

Rin swallowed, glared at the food but ate it silently and quickly. When she had finished she slowly got off the chair, looking at you with worry in her eyes: ,,Can Yuri-chan come too?''

,,No.''

You saw sadness show up in her face as she realized she had gotten you in some kind of trouble, fear of losing another friend from the household. She walked out the door, staring at the floor. You did the same, hoping that he wouldn't be too bad. You saw him get up, swiftly and silently, from the corner of your eye. He walked over to you, standing only a meter away from you: ,,Stand.''

You stood up a second after the word flew from his lips. ,,Look at me.''

You hesitated, knowing that he was probably just looking for another reason to punish you. He growled this time: ,,_**Look**_ at me.''

When you didn't act to his command instantly his hand quickly grabbed your chin and pulled your head to face his, making you look him straight in the eye. You heart was beating faster than it ever had, and he growled at you again: ,,I told you to look at me.''

His eyes weren't completely emotionless, like before. You saw anger somewhere inside, but cold. So cold. You were so close to him that you saw yourself in his eyes, his beautiful golden eyes. Again, you were trapped. Hypnotized. The warm feeling spread again. You felt fear now, making the warmth colder than before, but much more exciting. Lord Sesshomaru stared back into your eyes but it didn't matter. You wanted to just stay there, but you still wanted to run for your life.

,,What is that in your eyes, that sparkle.''

The words were spoken without emotion, almost as if he were asking you about the time. But it still didn't sound like he was talking to you, more like himself. His hand was still on your face, tracing to the back of your head and you felt his fingers play with a lock of your hair. Your breath came out hitching, when you did remember to continue to breath. Your heart was like a bird's and your eyes widened in fear as you felt tension built up, danger.

Lord Sesshomaru grabbed your hair and pulled your head backwards. You gasped from pain and shock and grabbed his arm, trying not to fall backwards from the pull. You closed your eyes as you felt tears fill your eyes, not wanting to cry out.

,,Open your eyes.''

You didn't hesitate this time to obey. Your eyelids flew open and you met his eyes for the third time. He told you slowly: ,,You humans are pathetic. So vulnerable, breakable and weak. Scared, pathetic, slow creatures.''

With that, he let you go. You fell to the floor, grabbing your head. It didn't hurt much now, but you were still scared. You kept in a whimper, getting a hold of yourself. You didn't want him to be completely right. You sucked in air before you said: ,,We may be pathetic, weak and slow, but we're not the creatures in this world.''

You stared in his way, not into his eyes again. You got up, slowly, knowing that he was going to hit you. But you didn't care as much. You were barely up again when you saw the floor again, feeling the stinging pain in your cheek and jaw. You tasted blood in your mouth, he had hit you hard and you felt dizzy. You couldn't help but spit out the blood, you felt as if you were drowning in it. You stiffened up a bit as you realized that he was see it as an act of insult and hit you again. He didn't.

He kicked you instead. You hit the closest wall, gasping and coughing only to gasp again; it felt like he had broken something. You tried to breathe again, but the pain made you stop, you felt dizzier, weaker and everything went darker. The last thing you saw was his golden eyes.

*Sesshomaru's POV*

The sound of your name mildly surprised you. You glanced up, narrowing your eyes. You didn't like surprises. Suddenly her eyes met yours. The deep dark of the blue in her irises made you feel that peculiar tension, that look in her eyes, that sparkle, as hers met your golden ones. It actually felt, what would the word be? Pleasant?

You didn't mind it. Then Rin asked you if you wanted her to finish her food. You had been enjoying to listen to the bargaining, especially after the arrival of the annoying cat. It was amusing how Rin despised her vegetables and did everything in her power not to eat them. The interesting part was how insistent the girl was being on the child eating them.

You told Rin to eat her foot and leave, which she of course did. Asking if the girl could accompany her was a question she already knew the answer to. The girl had to be punished, she had to learn to show you respect; looking straight into your eyes, staring, wasn't respectful. You wouldn't kill her; Rin needed the girl as much as a beggar needed money. Rin shouldn't have to suffer the loss of another one so soon.

You stood up and approached the girl, standing close to her: ,,Get up,'' which she did quickly. Your next command: ,,Look at me.''

She hesitated, making you impatient. She should obey. ,,_**Look**_ at me.''

A little impatience slipped out in your words, though were spoken as calmly as before. When she didn't do as she was told, your hand reached up to her chin, touching her soft and delicate skin, making her look at you: ,,I told you to look at me.''

Again her dark blues melted when they met your golden ones. They were even more fascinating at such close range. They had a dark circle, almost black, at the edges, shocking contras to the blue which dictated the irises. A lighter shade decorated the irises, some kind of a pattern with highs and lows, and almost turning grey just by the black pupil.

It was most beautiful.

But in the dark of the blue you saw something, something sparkling, blue fires making them come even more alive and more beautiful than before. You asked yourself out loud: ,,What is that in your eyes, that sparkle.''

You had said these words before you could think. Not that it wasn't what you were going to say. But something in your body didn't mean it the same way as your mind did.

You hand slowly traced to the fine, smooth black locks of her hair, a thick one in your hand. You thought to yourself how great the difference was between the two of you. The silky hair pulled at you. You pulled at it instead. Her gasp satisfied you, when she grabbed your arm so she wouldn't fall, the way her blue eyes closed as she felt pain.

,,Open your eyes.''

They sprung open. The spark was gone; the fire had been put out. There was only fear and pain. You scoffed, mentally: ,,You humans are pathetic. So vulnerable, breakable and weak. Scared, pathetic, slow creatures.''

You let her go. She fell backwards to the floor, her small hands grabbing her head. She shook for a moment, and you decided that fear was enough.

,,We may be pathetic, weak and slow, but we're not the creatures in this world.''

She looked back into your eyes. There was no spark, no fear, no pain, no fire. Nothing. Her eyes were as emotionless as you knew your own were. Her answer angered you just as much as her empty stare did. She stood up. Her little hands were curled up, she knew what she deserved. You hit her. Her body fell to the floor. She spit blood on the floor, froze as if she hadn't done it on purpose. You didn't care; she showed you disrespect, you who had save her and taken her in. She needed to learn right away how to behave.

A kick and she flew to the wall, a yelp and smell of fresh blood after a sound of cracking ribs. She was gasping, she was in pain. Of course, you had broken at least two ribs, if not three. You walked to her, looking into her eyes, watching them lose focus before they closed. She was unconscious.

You watched her for a while, before you thought that it would most likely be best to take her to her room yourself and get your personal healer to take a look at her; who knew just how fragile humans really were?

You bent down to pick her up, stopping once you felt a shock run through your hand when you touched her. You blinked and tried again; nothing. She winced when you picked her up, but you paid it no mind and got out of the dining room. There was no one in the hallway, or the lobby, so you did begin to wonder where that annoying cat had run off to. You opened the door to the girl's room and placed her on the bed, noticing again that she had no personal belongings, no luggage. You wondered again if you should get one of the servants to help with decorating her room and personalize the wardrobe.

You went back to close the door, some privacy if the cat would be somewhere around. He was a "ladies man" or whatever you would call it; took chance of every beautiful woman he saw, human or demon.

You went back to the girl and began undressing her; you'd need to see if she was very injured or not, was your excuse. You loosened the kimono with your hand, but froze as you felt a familiar scent slowly make its way to the house. You glared at the balconies, they were open, and he was out there. That half demon who she had been talking to. You turned your attention to the soon-to-be intruder and how you were going to take care of him. You walked out to the balconies, sensing him from the woods in front of you. You jumped, hearing the girl yell: ,,No!''

You ignored her outburst, but with an unknown feeling of some odd kind of warmth in your torso.

*Your P.O.V.*

The pain in your side was probably what woke you up. Then the cold air. You stirred, opening your eyes to see a very blurry picture of lord Sesshomaru on the balconies. Then suddenly he stepped up on the railing and jumped down: ,,No!''

You gasped from the pain, biting down as that hurt even more, trying to get your breath under control; you had definitely a broken rib. This day couldn't get any worse, could it?

You heard voices from the yard; of course lord Sesshomaru would live, he's a demon. The other voice sounded familiar, though.

Kai?

You carefully sat up and dragged yourself to the balconies. You began hearing some words of the conversation, the two demons talking louder: ,, . . . in that castle . . .''

,, . . . of your bussi . . .''

,, . . . I . . . her!''

,, . . . so much . . . in her?''

You were almost at the balconies and your heard the conversation almost clearly this time: ,,None . . . business . . . !''

,,You . . . not . . . her.''

You grabbed the banister: ,,She is not your property, you know!''

,,She is.''

These words your heard loud and clear. They were probably talking about you. You felt like you had been chained down by lord Sesshomaru's words; even though you had expected them. You felt your strength disappear, darkness closing in. You shook your head, but it just made you even dizzier and the grip in the balconies loosened and you leaned on it now. You sat down, not sure what the men were saying this time, but you thought you heard your name. You leaned into the wind as you sat down on the balcony, trying to listen what they were saying; was Kai talking to you? Suddenly you saw the earth coming towards you and the wind in your ears before the darkness took over completely.

* * *

Alright, the third one finished! (Finally.. )

Going through the chapters again and rewriting them for the first time since I literally wrote them and posted them online (minus when I spell-checked it two years ago) is so awkward; these were written almost six years ago by the fourteen year old me.

I see how immature the writing style is, how simple and direct it is as well. But I hope I made them a bit more "my own" and more in the "now" than how it was… I will still have them posted on my quizilla account, so you can always go back there to see how much it has improved!

Love to you guys!


	4. Chapter 4

******Author's notes: I'm not sure if I have ever mentioned this to you but "thoughts" will probably be displayed inside of #HASHTAGSYAY#.*****

******Just thought to mention this now :)*****

* * *

*Flash Back*

You carefully sat up and dragged yourself to the balconies. You began hearing some words of the conversation, the two demons talking louder: ,, . . . in that castle . . .''

,, . . . of your bussi . . .''

,, . . . I . . . her!''

,, . . . so much . . . in her?''

You were almost at the balconies and your heard the conversation almost clearly this time: ,,None . . . business . . . !''

,,You . . . not . . . her.''

You grabbed the banister: ,,She is not your property, you know!''

,,She is.''

These words your heard loud and clear. They were probably talking about you. You felt like you had been chained down by lord Sesshomaru's words; even though you had expected them. You felt your strength disappear, darkness closing in. You shook your head, but it just made you even dizzier and the grip in the balconies loosened and you leaned on it now. You sat down, not sure what the men were saying this time, but you thought you heard your name. You leaned into the wind as you sat down on the balcony, trying to listen what they were saying; was Kai talking to you? Suddenly you saw the earth coming towards you and the wind in your ears before the darkness took over completely.

*End of Flash Back*

* * *

*Kai's POV*

You wanted to hiss at the Dog Demon Lord who was being all high and mighty, you felt Sayuri's scent get stronger and saw her stumbling out to the balconies the Demon lord had jumped down from. She looked like she was piss drunk! You stared at her: ,,Sayuri?''

The demon lord glanced around, not really interested. When you saw her stumble dangerously close to the banister you yelled louder, forgetting for a moment the pissed off demon in front of you: ,,Sayuri?!''

The demon turned around this time, just in time to see the young human fall off the balconies, unconscious. For a second both of you froze; was she really falling?

At the same exact fraction of a second the two of you ran to catch her, save her, keep her from harm; but you were too late. The short hesitation of the second made her slip your arms and she hit the ground as you surrounded her. Her kimono was loose around her body, and her inner shirt had pulled up slightly. You pulled it around her again, and wondered why you were so concerned about the girl. You met her yesterday? Or the day before? There was just something about her that made you feel just a bit lighter. You wanted to see her again.

You checked her pulse and wondered about the dark bruise on her ribcage. It looked pretty recent. You gently touched it, remembering what your sister had taught you briefly so many years ago, making the human girl take a painful gasp. Biting your lip you realized that this must be a broken rib, along with some bruising in her face as well. All very recent. She needed medical attention: ,,What happened to her?''

The glare was unmistakable: ,,None of your business, half demon.''

You glared right back: ,,Apparently there is a lot that isn't, but I'm going to make her my business. She needs help, ya know. She might be seriously injured, whatever happened.''

The lord face was emotionless, but you did notice the slight twitch in his eyes which told you everything you needed to know: ,,I am fully aware of the situation. One of my servants was going to aid her when you showed up.''

You raised your eyebrows, not sure whether to be insulted or surprised that you were important enough to interrupt something in the great Western lords life. You asked him: ,,Are you trying to say that it's my fault?''

,,Leave. The girl is seriously injured, so you will not be able to speak with her.''

,,Seriously injured?! WHO?!''

The peeping voice in your breast pocket made you sigh with annoyance; now she woke up?

,,Welcome back to life, filthy rat. Sayuri's injured.''

An orange-brown mouse head popped up from your breast pocket and sniffed the air. The mouse talked again in its tiny voice: ,,Who's the demon?''

You rolled your eyes and asked annoyed: ,,Where the hell have you been for the last five minutes?!''

The so very, very annoying mouse answered like it was the obvious thing in the whole world: ,,Sleeping! Why?''

You were pushing Sayuri onto her back, the demon lord not interrupting at all. He simply watched you and the rat with a very interested look on his face. You sighed and updated: ,,Status; Demon is Sesshomaru of the Western lands. The one injured for some reason; Sayuri the human we met. The one joining her unless she does something; you.''

The mouse jumped from the pocket and to the ground: ,,Fine! Just don't crush me like you almost did yesterday... I was getting hungry!''

,,Not an excuse for biting my ear though, Yoshi!''

,,Yeah, yeah. Give me some space, at least! Jeez, being all impatient and all...''

,,Annoying little rodent...'' was you reply as you backed away from the mouse in the grass. The lord of the property, of which you were able to get into, just observing. You shook your head slightly before just looking down at the mouse, waiting for the inevitable. The mouse glowed, brightly orange, before it got bigger and brighter. Then suddenly it was a young woman in front of you. You blushed as you continued to take of your jacket for the _**naked**_ young girl. You then told her: ,,Seriously, begin preparing a bag, I've been telling you so for the last decade or so.''

The girl didn't even look up from Sayuri as she wrapped the jacket around her body, giggling. She had short red hair, more orange than yours. Her eyes were grey and shiny with the weird joy she got from examining potential patients. She smiled as she touched Sayuri's face gently, examining the bruises, no doubts: ,,It this Sayuri?''

You rolled your eyes again, glancing over to Sesshomaru with a glare: ,,No, _**that one**_ is her. Of course that's her!''

Yoshi rolled her eyes and peeped: ,,Well, sorry I _**asked**_!''

,,Just _**do it already**_!''

,,_**Gods**_! Just a second, please!''

You shut up, annoyed and worried. Yoshi was too scatterbrained, she could be thinking of healing someone near death one minute, the next she was wondering about how to celebrate your birthday. You watched her prepare for the examination and then slowly, with a slight light, run her hands up and down her body, especially the places which you thought were hurt.

,,Wow. She's gotta be hurting! Three broken ribs, bruised cheekbone, a crack in her left arm bone and . . .''

The girl stopped, clearing her throat, and you yelled at her, angry at the delay: ,,Yoshi!''

Yoshi glared at you and hissed: ,,That's it, jerk! I'm gonna heal her, then she has to rest and she's gonna have to talk to some priestess or whatever. That's it.''

,,Then heal her! Yoshi, she fell off the freaking balconies! How stupid can you get . . .?''

A finger dangerously close to your face made you shut up and a hard glare from the girl: ,,Don't talk to me like that, little brother. I am fully aware of what is going on here. I doubt that you do, anyway . . .''

You sighed; she was right. You had no idea what to do, you were just panicking like you always did. You already knew that Yoshi needed to prepare before she would attempt to heal someone. You watched her take a deep breath and placed her hands on each side of Sayuri's face. Then the familiar humming sound, a buzz of some sort, then the slight blue light came from Yoshi's hands. After maybe half a minute Yoshi smiled as the light faded and the sound disappeared: ,,Alright. She should wake up about . . . now!''

* * *

*Your P.O.V.*

You opened your eyes slowly, your focus taking it's time to kick in. You saw a face surrounded by almost orange hair, and green, gleaming eyes. Then her voice chimed in: ,,See! I told you I'd wake her up! Say, are you hurting anywhere? Don't you feel super good?''

You blinked, unsure of how to react. Then you asked slowly: ,,Who _**are**_ you?''

She paused for a moment, before she smiled slightly: ,,It is only fair that you know who I am, since I know who you are, right?''

She was still staring at you, making you feel very uncomfortable and self-conscious. Finally you asked again: ,,Your name, please?''

The girl laughed nervously and smiled sweetly: ,,Ah, sorry! I'm Yoshi! You're Sayuri, right?''

Suddenly she yelped and made a face and moved away yelling something. Then Kai suddenly appeared, which was the moment you began to wonder if you were dreaming: ,,So, you're not dead and feel fine, right?''

You nodded slowly and began to feel the grass beneath you. Wait, you were on the ground? You sat up and asked quickly: ,,What are you doing here? Why am I on the ground?!''

You looked straight up and your chin shot down as you realized: ,,_**I fell from the balconies**_?!''

,,Yeah.''

Your head snapped back at Kai who sat beside you calmly: ,,Why are you here?!''

He raised his eyebrow and scoffed: ,,A "hello" would be more polite., and a "thank you" even better! I mean, you're not dead, nothing's broken, no bruises or anything.''

You glared at him and asked in a little panic: ,,Why would I be dead?''

He sighed and raised his voice slightly: ,,You fell from a _**third story balcony**_. Does that clear things up for you?!''

You began hyperventilating as you started thinking about all the things lord Sesshomaru would be able to do to them if he found them here. As a result your voice got louder: ,,No need to be so grumpy! I mean, you tell me I almost died here! You should just _**breath and be calm and get out of my face because I still don't understand why you are here**_! This is lord Sesshomaru's home, you shouldn't be here!''

Kai jumped at the sudden outburst and stared at you before he was able to snap back at you: ,,Well, sorry for making my sister _**save your life**_ and all! I'll just scram and be done with you!''

You stared at him then looked at the girl who sat there quietly with an interested look on her face: ,,She's your sister?''

The girl, Yoshi, smiled like a sun and waved: ,,Yeah, unfortunately! But we aren't full-siblings, he's my half-brother! But I still call him my brother, because we're the only ones left alive in our family, so we live mostly in the woods, wandering around and settling when we want, but that's okay!''

Kai hit his sisters head again, and yelled at her: ,,Shut up, kid!''

,,Ouch! That _**hurt**_! Why are you _**always**_ hitting me?! It hurts!''

Kai rolled his eyes and sneered: ,,Maybe if you would shut up every once in a while, I wouldn't!''

,,Maybe if you weren't such a tough guy I wouldn't have to talk for the two of us!''

You watched them fighting. Was this what it was like to have a sibling? Your eyes wandered around the area, finding it awkward to watch them quarrel like this. You looked out to the woods before you glanced back to the house and had a small shock as you saw lord Sesshomaru standing beside you. You blushed heavily and looked back down to his feet. You nodded when he said in a stoic voice: ,,Inside. Now.''

You stood up, still pretty amazed of how good your body felt, and bowed down to Yoshi as you said: ,,Thank you for saving me and everything. I am sorry, but you have to leave now. It was nice to meet you, Yoshi, and it was good to see you again, Kai.''

The half-siblings stood up as well, Yoshi with a smile as she said: ,,Don't think you can get rid of us, so easily! We'll be around, trust me.''

You nodded, smiling politely as you were unsure of how to respond, and walked after lord Sesshomaru. Of course he walked ahead of you and inside without looking back. You followed him quickly, though, trying your best not to trip over your own feet. As soon as you got inside Rin jumped down the stairs: ,,Yuri-chan! Where were you?! You left the eating room and then I couldn't find you, because you weren't in your room and no one saw you and you were nowhere!''

Then she turned to lord Sesshomaru, who was halfway up the stairs and asked loudly: ,,I'm sorry, lord Sesshomaru, were you talking to her still?''

You glanced over to lord Sesshomaru, who just kept on walking, not bothering to answer the question. You went over to Rin with a small smile: ,,Sorry to keep you waiting, Rin. What's up?''

She smiled and asked in a small voice: ,,Well . . . I was wondering if we could go play, or you could teach me to read books, or draw, or something . . .''

You smiled sweetly to her and said that you would love to. You noticed lord Sesshomaru's kimono disappearing up the stairs before you took Rin's hand and followed up after him. He had disappeared by the time the two of you were there, Rin slipping from your hand and running towards her playroom. She was seated down by a desk and showed you: ,,I drew these before I went to look for you! What do you think?''

These were poor drawings, maybe good for a girl her age. But they were pretty, in _**her**_ way. There was a lot of flowers and a box which looked like the castle. A lot of the ones with the flowers. She finally handed you one drawing, though she did tell you that it wasn't finished, that small glow of embarrassment on her face, and you smiled; it was a drawing where she, probably, was in the middle. She was holding hands with a very tall person, not finished, and another person who was smaller than the man. You asked her who they were. She smiled and replied: ,,Well, this is me! And this is lord Sesshomaru and you! Then I'm going to draw something pretty around us and hang it on the wall!''

You smiled sweetly and told her that this was going to be a masterpiece. Rin seemed to glow by the compliment but soon the two of you got down to business; you began teaching her the first letters.

After two hours of frustration on both ends you suggested to go and play outside in the sun. It was still weirdly warm for mid February, so you thought that you really should make the most of it. Rin took it very well, jumping up and made her way out of the room with you on her heels.

You ended up in somewhere in the back garden, by the big pond you had seen when you arrived; the one with the tree. Rin appeared suddenly with a ball from behind that tree and quickly you had begun playing. Weariness caught up with you soon; it had been a _**very**_ long day, to say the least, so you asked Rin if it would be alright for you to sit down for a moment. Rin nodded and continued to play by herself. You sat down by the tree, watching Rin for a while. She lost interest in the ball quickly and began inspecting the pond, like she had probably done a million times before. You looked around as you were assured that she wouldn't be going in to the pond or something of the sort, inspecting the area around you.

You guessed that you were at the western part of the garden, since you could see a glimpse of the gate you came through earlier. You still couldn't see the fence around the house from where you were sitting, there were so many plants and trees around you. Thought there was none like the tree you were sitting by. You felt so peaceful sitting by it; almost as if the tree itself gave away some calming aura. You closed your eyes, feeling the breeze and the warmth the sun gave away. Rin was giggling from time to time, soft sound of the water rippling as she stirred it with a stick and threw rocks in it. Then a pitched voice broke it down and you opened your eyes to the toad like demon Jaken, yelling at you with his big, round, yellow eyes staring at you angrily: ,,What do you think you are doing, you brainless human?! Are you not supposed to be watching the child?! And what do you do; sleep by a tree as the silly child goes around playing in the _**water**_; what do you think she could have done if she was left unattended?!''

You shook your head, trying to explain, but the toad kept on going. You felt your mood worsen, closing your eyes and pinching the bridge of your nose, but when you felt the pain of his staff hitting your head, you lost all control. You jumped up and yelled at the demon toad: ,,What the _**heck**_ was that for, you stupid, stupid toad?! You don't even know what was going on here, then you come accusing me for closing my eyes for a _**minute**_, and then you _**whack me in my head**_?! _**HOW DARE YOU, you simply came at the wrong time as I happened to have closed my eyes**_! But did you let me explain that? _**NO**_!''

Then you Bend down and finished: ,,It is _**not**_ polite to _**hit**_ people, and the next time you do, I _**will**_ hit you back!''

You heard Rin's giggles and then she asked: ,,Wasn't that a bit funny, Sesshomaru-sama?''

You paled up as you turned around, barely able to look up at your lord. Jaken began immediately: ,,Sire! She's mad, she was sleeping as she was taking care of the child!''

You turned around, getting fired up again: ,,I most certainly was _**not**_! I just closed my eyes to feel the breeze and the sun! I wasn't sleeping! Besides, I have excellent hearing, other than some . . .''

,,That is _**no**_ excuse . . .''

,,Enough.''

Jaken stopped and you turned around again to face the lord. He motioned you to follow him, which you didn't hesitate to do. Rin followed you, grabbing your hand with a smile. You smiled back, though you wondered if lord Sesshomaru would punish you for the second time today. But this time you didn't do anything wrong and you weren't going to say that you did. You followed him up the stairs, Rin beginning to hum and jumped up and down a bit. He then said calmly but suddenly: ,,Rin, go to your room.''

Rin stopped and blinked: ,,Will Sayuri come too?''

Lord Sesshomaru looked down to Rin, before glancing at you: ,,She will.''

Rin nodded at the reassurance and skipped down the hallway towards her room. Lord Sesshomaru walked over to the second door on the left and entered. You followed him inside and gawked at all the paintings once again. In here there were only men, all with lord Sesshomaru's silver-white hair. You wondered if they were his ancestors, which they probably were. You looked around the room and wondered how many papers where in here. There were maps on the walls, along with the paintings, and even weapons. You looked up and down the shelves filled with books and papers, and finally noticed a big desk, loaded with papers and writing materials. The candle on the desk was nearly burned down, but it wasn't lit since the big window in the ceiling made it bright enough in there, along with the smaller ones in the back of the room.

Lord Sesshomaru picked up something which looked like a letter before he told you: ,,I am aware of Jaken's wrongness in this matter, but you will not defy him as you did again.''

You shook your head: ,,No my lord. I'm sorry.''

You continued to look around this room, curious of where you were. You opened your mouth to ask, but lord Sesshomaru obviously noticed your curiosity before you had spoken: ,,This is my office. You are not permitted to enter this room without my consent.''

You nodded again: ,,Yes, my lord.''

The lord walked gracefully past you and closed the door, before he pulled out a book from one of the shelves behind you, and walked back to his desk: ,,I will not appoint a bodyguard to you. Instead you will learn how to defend yourself and others from danger, if necessary.''

This came as a surprise for you, but you thanked him. This would be a good thing, you guessed. He then spoke again: ,,The rat said you would need to speak with someone. Why.''

You stared at the floor, very, very confused. The rat? What rat? You hadn't seen rats since you were in the mines. You asked him slowly: ,,M-my lord, what rat?''

He, as impatient with you as he was, explained with an icy breeze: ,,The sister of that wretched half demon friend of yours.''

You realized he must have been talking about Yoshi, though you were oblivious as to why he called her a _**rat**_. You asked him: ,,You must be talking about Yoshi, my lord. But I'm not sure why she would say such a thing.''

You didn't look at him, not even his toes. Though you couldn't see them, since he had sat down by his desk. You wondered why Yoshi would say something like that. You weren't ready to talk about your village, your losses. Not yet.

,,You lie.''

You closed your eyes to hinder the tears, knowing it full well that you would have to tell him anyway. You took a deep breath and told him: ,,Well, my lord, it might be because I recently lost my home and every one I ever knew are dead.''

You took another deep breath, wiping the tear which slipped away from under your lid and continued: ,,Because all my family and friends were brutally slaughtered by a demon on a killing spree. Maybe because of my mother, or siblings I was supposed to have but all died. I'm not sure why she would say I needed to speak with someone about these things.''

You wiped another tear away, staring at the floor. No sound came from the Lord of the Western lands. You stood still, waiting for him to either answer you or dismiss you. Suddenly you saw his feet in front of you, gasping in surprise and you looked up. You met his eyes for a second, but looked down again as soon as you did. You didn't want him to hit you again.

You still felt your heart beat faster as you felt his presence so close you to, the glimmer of his golden eyes still in your mind. Every time you looked into his beautiful eyes an emotional wave drowned your heart. You weren't sure what kind of feelings they were, they were so many. Terror, care, happiness, sadness, madness, anger. But there was one that ruled them all. Either it was a great care, or it was a mad terror, of what he could do to you.

You jumped again when his deep voice sounded so close to you: ,,Is that so.''

He walked away from you again, telling you in an uninterested manner: ,,Miu will be waiting for you tomorrow after lunch, in the back yard.''

You bowed your head: ,,Yes, my lord. Thank you.''

You turned around and walked out slowly. He didn't say anything but you knew he had dismissed you, so you didn't hesitate to get out of there. Once you closed the door you felt relief. For a moment you enjoyed it, but finally you went to Rin's room and you drew a couple of pictures with her. She didn't ask why lord Sesshomaru asked you to talk to him. She knew that she couldn't know. She just smiled there, happy and innocent. She knew about all the horrors in this world, the killings, and the evil. But she didn't understand it yet. You were glad she didn't.

She interrupted your thoughts by showing you a picture of a cat. She smiled behind the paper and said: ,,I want a kitty! But Sesshomaru-sama says that I can't have one. But I can always draw some!''

You smiled, still surprised of how optimistic she could always be. The two of you made small talk, as she continued to draw. You were sitting in a chair, and she was lying on the floor. The room was pale pink, and big. Pictures were hanging on the walls and some drawings were on the table. There were a lot of dolls there, and a small table, Rin-sized.

A low knock on the door suddenly echoed in the gigantic room, and Rin sprung up and yelled: ,,I'm coming Natsuko-chan!''

You wondered if you should stand up and follow her. You did stand up as Rin told the person at the door: ,,Natsuko-chan, you don't have to knock all the time, how often do I have to tell you?''

A young woman was by the door, with blonde hair and light brown eyes. She smiled and said: ,,Well Rin, it's my duty to do so. And it's polite. But I'm not here for you this time, Rin. I'm here for Sayuri-san.''

You felt yourself blush a bit as the pretty demon turned to you with a gentle smile: ,,Me?''

The girl, Natsuko, nodded and told you with a smile: ,,We were told that you are to help with different kinds of chores around the house. We would like for you to please help us in the kitchen, if you would like. It will be a very busy night.''

You nodded, blushing by the politeness she was showing and smiled to her: ,,Of course. I'm coming then.''

Rin gasped and asked loudly: ,,Whaaaaat?! What about me?!''

You smiled to the puppy-eyed Rin and told her: ,,Rin, I have to help out any way that I can. You know that.''

Rin sighed and nodded: ,,Yeah, yeah. Okay, but I will see you at dinner, right, Yuri-chan?''

You smiled again and patted her head: ,,Yeah, of course!''

Natsuko waited for you on the hallway and walked besides you down the hallway and towards the stairs. The silence was kind of awkward, so you decided to ask: ,,So, how come that it's busy tonigh?''

Natsuko, obviously glad that you spoke, asked you: ,,You don't know?''

You shook your head, wondering if she didn't know that this was still just your first day here. Natsuko smiled and told you: ,,Oh, I'm sorry, of course. You have spent the whole day with Rin, haven't you. Well, we will be having somewhat of a feast tonight, because of lord Katsuro. He will be joining the lord for dinner. They have some matters to discuss.''

You nodded, feeling your heart drop: ,,Lord Katsuro. Great.''

Natsuko's smile changed a bit and she asked: ,,You've met him, right?''

You chuckled: ,,Yeah, I did. Unfortunately. What is with that man and the way he looks at you?''

Natsuko nodded: ,,I know what you mean. He's even done a bit more than just look at some of the women in the castle. Some more than others. Which is probably why the lord dislikes him. Well, despises him. Hates him, really.''

You giggled a bit: ,,Oh, wow. It can get kind of creepy, how he looks at you, you know. How it's almost like he is undressing you with his eyes . . .''

,,Ugh! Tell me about it!'' Natsuko motioned you to turn right once you were down the stairs, and down the darker hallway there. She continued: ,,Too bad that we can't do anything about it. He gets what he wants, or else we will suffer for it.''

You nodded, hoping that you wouldn't have to deal with the lord at all. The conversation ended as you entered the kitchen, which was warm and cozy. Natsuko asked you to cut down some veggies and stuff so you stood on the opposite of a table from a young man who was continuously glancing up at you and frowning. You pretended not to notice. He looked kind of cute, taller than you, brown, spiky hair and brown eyes which, as you had noticed a bit too much, were watching you. Finally you asked him: ,,What are you looking at, kitchen boy-san?''

He grinned and told you: ,,Just wondering who you are, new-girl.''

You glanced up to him and asked him in a pretend-shocked manner: ,,Me? You have _**never**_ seen me? _**Ever**_?''

You smiled at his smirk: ,,Should I have?''

Shaking your head you told him: ,,Not really. I just arrived today.''

He joked: ,,Wow, I am truly sorry that I didn't recognize you,'' but he gave you a kind smile: ,,You came with the lord?''

You nodded before bowing your head: ,,Yeah. I am Sayuri, Lord Sesshomaru's newest "servant".''

The guy did the same: ,,I'm Takehiko, the Lord's _**kitchen boy**_ . . .''

You laughed and asked him: ,,I had to call you something, right?''

He smiled: ,,Sure, sure, just try to excuse yourself . . .''

You smiled sweeter: ,,Sorry, just trying to be polite!''  
Takehiko nodded: ,,Fair enough. So, if you came in with the lord you must have been here for the whole day. What have you been up to?''

You told him happily: ,,Well, I've been with Rin. I'm her new "friend" as she calls it. I'm what you could call a multi-servant, of sorts. Not that I'm really a "servant", so to speak. But yeah, I'm here to help with whatever I can, thought mostly to be with Rin.''

Takehiko almost stopped chopping and slicing as he asked you: ,,Sorry, but not really a servant? What do you mean by that?''

You shrugged and explained: ,,Well, I'm sort of paying a debt to Lord Sesshomaru, for saving my life. Rin also helped by telling him that she would like me to come with them, so I sort of just offered to come along to pay my debt and respect. Especially since Rin's last friend . . . well, I don't really know what happened to her.''

Takehiko stated to you with a straight face: ,,Well, she's dead. He killed her.''

You looked up at him, wide-eyed: ,,Who did?''

He gave you a weird look, like you were being crazy, and told you: ,,Who do you think? The lord, of course. The last thing we heard or saw of her was when he took her down to the cellar and then we heard her scream and we never saw her again,'' he put a piece of carrot in his mouth before he added: ,,So you better be careful of how you treat the little girl, okay?''

You looked back down to the veggies you were chopping, confused. Lord Sesshomaru killing the last sitter? You asked Takehiko slowly: ,,Wait, let's say that he did kill her, why did he do it? What did she do?''

Takehiko scoffed: ,,Why did lord Sesshomaru kill her, you ask. That's mostly rumors, but from what I heard she complained a lot about Rin, about how she had to spend every waking minute with the girl. How stubborn Rin could be, and then she was seen with lord Katsuro on the third floor. Then she hit Rin. Probably not very hard, but she did, because Rin snuck to her room and saw her with a demon working here as well, but he disappeared as well.''

You asked slowly: ,,So they just disappeared?''

,,Yeah.''

,,That doesn't mean that he killed them.''

Takehiko laughed a bit before he told you in a low voice: ,,Don't be silly. You must have seen how protective he is about the kid. So if you don't want to "disappear" I'd suggest that you kept any complaints you have to yourself. He can hear us from anywhere, it seems.''

You smiled and laughed: ,,Well, it's a good thing that I have no complaints then. Rin's so wonderful! Sure, she can be very stubborn from what I've seen, but nothing bad.''

Takehiko smiled and nodded. The rest of the preparations for dinner flew by as you chatted with Takehiko and got to know more people until suddenly everything was ready and the only thing you could do was to get ready for dinner. Apparently you were requested.

You headed to your room, wanting to wash off some of the kitchen smell before you would change and head back down. Someone had opened your balconies, so it was chilly in the room. The time was close to fifteen minutes past seven, so you didn't have a lot of time to get ready, since dinner was scheduled to be at eight, sharp. You jumped inside your bathroom and undressed, quickly cleaned yourself and got back out in less than five minutes. You wrapped your towel around your body tightly as you stepped out to look for another kimono in your closet, when you then noticed someone at your balconies.

* * *

Yay, cliffhanger. Sorry! I hope you like, please review and tell me all about what you think! :)


	5. Chapter 5

Alright, this is clicking nicely together. Hope you like it.

* * *

*Flash Back*

The rest of the preparations for dinner flew by as you chatted with Takehiko and got to know more people until suddenly everything was ready and the only thing you could do was to get ready for dinner. Apparently you were requested.

You headed to your room, wanting to wash off some of the kitchen smell before you would change and head back down. Someone had opened your balconies, so it was chilly in the room. The time was close to fifteen minutes past seven, so you didn't have a lot of time to get ready, since dinner was scheduled to be at eight, sharp. You jumped inside your bathroom and undressed, quickly cleaned yourself and got back out in less than five minutes. You wrapped your towel around your body tightly as you stepped out to look for another kimono in your closet, when you then noticed someone at your balconies.

*End of Flash Back*

* * *

You gasped from surprise and grabbed the nearest kimono to help the towel covering you up. You hand it close to your body, making sure it hid your legs as well. You felt the cold breeze from the balconies, and shivered a bit. Where wasn't any moon so it was almost completely dark by now and you couldn't even see the person standing on the balconies. You asked in a low voice: ,,Umh, excuse me . . . ?''

That someone turned his head slowly and glowing golden eyes pierced yours. You took a step back and turned your eyes down from his face: ,,Lord Sesshomaru. You surprised me . . .''

He turned back to the sky and told you: ,,You will wear the black kimono tonight. And find Rin something suitable to wear. Be ready in half an hour.''

You nodded: ,,So we will be joining you for dinner, my lord?''

He looked rather quickly back at you, but stopped. He then answered you calmly: ,,Yes, you will.''

Again he looked at the sky, and you wondered what you were supposed to do. It was kind of awkward to stand there naked with just a towel to shield you with. But lord Sesshomaru didn't move. Finally you decided to just ask: ,,My Lord?''

Nothing. Still just standing there, like a statue and watching the sun go down, or something. You tried again, clearing your throat as well, this time: ,,Lord Sesshomaru?''

His head moved again towards you and you took it as a sign to continue: ,,Can… can I go change, my lord?''

He looked again to the soon to be endless darkness and said: ,,Be quick.''

You nodded and glared inside the closet for a black kimono, which you found and grabbed it quickly so you could, just as quickly, retreat to the bathroom again. You took a deep breath, calming your nerves and wondered if the lord was always so weird. You looked at the kimono as you let the towel drop to the floor and sighed; a long tight one. Great. No big steps in this one! You still got dressed and tried your best to fix your hair before you went back out to the bedroom. #What is he still doing here? Wasn't I supposed to get me and Rin ready?#

He was still at the same place, doing exactly the same thing he had been doing. You glanced out and thought to yourself that if the moon was out it would probably be just above the mountains you saw to the south-east, or just to the left of your balconies. You didn't know what to do, or say, so you just stood there, looking around the room, glancing at the lord from time to time. The dinner would be ready in forty minutes and you still had to get Rin ready.

Suddenly he faced you, the silence going from awkward to piercing. You felt his eyes stab your persona and you tried your best not to look up and see his beautiful face. You heard nothing and you swallowed the gasp when you saw his feet appear before you.

,,You are not permitted to see Lord Katsuro alone. If he asks to, you will deny it and report it to me.''

You weren't sure why he was telling you this; this was a no brainer. You still accepted that he might have his reasons and you nodded: ,,I will not see him, Lord Sesshomaru. May I ask why?''

Silence. Then a short "No" came from his lips. Then he said slowly: ,,I assume that the servants told you about Rin's last sitter.''

You were lost. So confused. Why was he telling you this? Why was he talking to you? There had to be some reason for this, right?! Was he warning you? Was he threatening you? That must be it.

You nodded again: ,,Yes they have, my lord.''

,,Do you believe the rumors.''

Wait, was he asking you for your opinion? You couldn't believe _**that**_, that's for sure! You still thought carefully of how to answer: ,,To be completely honest, my lord, I'm not sure. I believe that you have the ability to do . . . something like this, but I'm unsure if you actually would.''

For a second he said nothing. You felt as if you had maybe hurt his feelings a bit; not believing that he was the cold-blooded killer he could be, or not believing that he was a better man than that.

That quickly changed once he said: ,,You should believe them. Do not underestimate anyone in this place, specifically not me.''

With that he walked past you and out the door. A chill went down your spine by these words. Could he actually have killed that woman? There must have been a bigger reason . . .

It was getting chilly, so you closed the door out to the balconies. You stopped for a second where he stood a minute ago. You looked over the land and noticed someone coming. It must be the guest, Lord Katsuro, arriving again.

You fixed your hair once more and went to Rin's room and told her to get dressed in her best clothes. The kimono you were in wasn't the most beautiful one in the bunch, you thought, but he was beautiful nonetheless. It was black with silver and golden flowers down the right side. He showed off a little too much for your taste, but nothing too serious. When Rin was ready, it was time to go downstairs.

You met Natsuko, and she gave you tips, to not draw attention to either of you, and to be polite and finish all the food on your dishes and all of that kind of stuff. You were so nervous and you didn't understand the purpose of you being there. But you didn't have any time to worry about that since you and Rin were almost thrown in to lord Sesshomaru as he walked inside.

You two followed, the little girl terrified and understood no more then you did. This was starting to be a terribly long day and you were tired and so much had happened this day. You just hoped that you and Rin were allowed to leave after the dinner. Maybe there wasn't anything more to do after that . . .

You sat down in your seats, everyone was quiet and it was like that for few minutes. Then Lord Katsuro, who was already seated in there, when you got there said: ,,Well then, Sesshomaru. Shall we talk business?,,

Sesshomaru looked silently at him and said: ,,That is why you are here, isn't it?,,

Katsuro's favorite facial expression appeared, the almighty smirk, and he said: ,,You bet it is. Now, about Nori's land, I want it, you want it, we want it. I also want the south. But we both do know that Lord Nori has a pretty good army back there in the north. So, what I want is, to join forces and take his land, and then take the south. You can have the south and I the north. And then in the future, we may have some problem, but nothing we can't sort out. What do you say?,,

There was silence, which you noticed was a bit heavy. Then Sesshomaru spoke: ,,That could be done. But the conference in only five months has to take place. I will not jump into battle without knowing how the status is. How big his army is and so on. The last I heard he had doubled his numbers. Could your army manage that.''

,,It might. And yours?''

,,You are fully aware that it can. The north has more man-power than the south . . .''

You stopped listening at that time. You didn't want to know how they were going to kill a whole army, full of people, take over some land. You just ate our food slowly and watched out for Rin to eat hers. Rin too just ate and was silent. This dinner seemed to take forever, war strategies were discussed back and forth, until it was finally over, it was too late and the debate would have to continue later. You were glad that this day was over, when you walked the hall with Rin and went up again, to get her to her room. The clock was almost half past ten and Rin had to go to sleep.

,,But I don't want to! I'm not tired! See!''

She jumped up and down in order to protest, but you smiled and said: ,,I'll read you a story, okay?''

He smile didn't seem to end when she heard that and wanted to hear her favorite story. You got the book and Rin said: ,,Maybe you can make stories tomorrow to tell me when I'm not tired at night! That would be fun!''

You smiled and said that maybe that could be arranged. You tugged her in and then began reading. After one page, Rin was sound asleep. You smiled at her and wondered how she could have all this energy when you were ready to just fall down were you stood. You stood up and turned off the lights, leaving the door slightly cracked open. You rubbed your back and sighed as you realized that you were going to begin your period _**very**_ soon, so you hurried back to your room. You sighed again and wondered why you had to have stupid periods and why they had to hurt so much. You then brushed your teeth and combed your hair again before you changed into your sleeping clothes and got ready to sleep in the weird, but so soft, bed.

You were just about to sit down when a certain someone said: ,,I have to say, you look absolutely stunning tonight, Sayuri-san . . .''

You jumped up as you thought #I swear, my balconies are cursed . . .!# You turned around to see lord Katsuro standing on those balconies. You tried your best to smile politely and said in a low voice: ,,Thank you, my lord. May I ask what you are doing in my room?''

The feline Lord walked inside the room with that smug smirk on his face, slowly making his way towards you: ,,I just thought we could talk for a while.''

,,What about, my Lord?''

He waved his hand in protest and told you smoothly: ,,Please, call me Katsuro. Beautiful girls like you shouldn't have to call me lord . . .''

You nodded, with a small smile, but told him coldly: ,,Thank you for the compliment, but I prefer "Lord" Katsuro. I am just a sitter. Now, if you would please, what do you want to talk about with me?''

He smiled, chuckled even, uncomfortably close to you by now, and told you slowly: ,,Well, I want to know why Sesshomaru would ever take another human into his home. Let alone another female human. That is what I am curious about.''

You didn't know what to say, you didn't know the reason either. But you didn't want him to know that. So the only thing you could think of saying was: ,,I can't see why you need to know, my lord. Curiosity killed the cat, right?''

Now he smiled even brighter: ,,But a cat has nine life's, right? And besides that, who said anything about demons?''

He was now beginning to walk around you, looking at your body covered in clothes like you weren't, indeed, covered in clothes. You felt frustration built up inside you and you heard you own voice get colder: ,,That may be. But I would like to go to sleep now, Lord Katsuro, so if you would please be so kind to leave. I also believe that your meeting with Lord Sesshomaru is over.''

His voice begun to sound like a purr: ,,But my meeting with you has just started. You don't really want me to leave, do you?''

You were getting nervous now; why wouldn't he just leave?! He got closer and you backed away from him, only to earn a small smile, which made you jump a bit: ,,Actually! I would like you to leave. Please?''

Lord Sesshomaru's warning echoed in your head; ,,You are not permitted to see Lord Katsuro alone. If he asks to, you will deny it and report it to me.'' You were pretty sure that you had denied him a lot. Now you probably should go and make a report, right? Katsuro was definitely not going to leave, not even planning to. You thanked yourself that you wore your shoes and walked briskly to your door.

That was a lie. You ran.

You shut the door behind you, ignoring the whining of the feline in your room, and ran down the corridor, determined to find someone to help you. You had always thought of the bedroom like it was a safe place, but now it wasn't. You were afraid that he might follow you, feeling more and more scared with each step you suddenly thought of how awful it would be if you would run into someone by the next corner . . .

You hit someone. And you fell straight back and a whiney "ow!" and you hoped so intensely that you did not just run into lord Sesshomaru again . . . But of course you did. He obviously knew that it was you, since he said coldly: ,,What are you doing.''

You blushed as you stood up and told him shyly: ,,I'm sorry, my Lord . . . I . . . was running from my room because, well, you know, Lord Katsuro is there, my lord. He didn't leave when I asked him to, so I ran away, not that I wanted to, I mean because I didn't want to leave my room! I was just going to sleep after I put Rin to sleep and he came through my balconies because I had to open them once, because it was so hot in my room and he started talking and trying to seduce me, I think, I'm not sure and . . .''

,,Did he say his reasons why he was in your quarters.''

You hummed a bit before you told him: ,,Well, he said he wanted to talk, and wanted to know why I was here and stuff, but I didn't tell him. I said that I didn't see why he needed to know.''

,,What else.''

You shook your head: ,,No, not really. Just told him that I wanted to go to sleep and asked him to leave a lot, I that I thought his meeting with you, my lord was over, and he answered that his meeting with me was just starting and that I didn't really wanted him to leave. But I did, I really, really did, but since he wasn't I had to leave, and I decided to try and find someone and then make a report to you, like you told me to, my lord.''

For a moment lord Sesshomaru didn't say anything, and you began getting weirdly awkward watching lord Sesshomaru's feet all the time.

,,Tell him it is your feminine time if he still has not left.''

Now the silence was definitely awkward. You felt blood rush quickly up to your face and your voice pitched up a couple of octaves: ,,E-e-e-excuse me, m-m-my Lord?! M-m-m-my fe-fe-feminine . . .?! What?!''

You looked up to his face for a moment, only to see the pathetic look he gave you: ,,I'm a demon.''

Your face had probably never been as dark-red as it ever had been and you felt so ashamed. This was something you had never ever spoken of to anyone. You didn't even have your mother to explain this to you, Keiko and Yuki had been the ones to tell you that this was "normal" for womanhood.

You stood completely still in the same tracks, blood still pulsing to your face as you thought of having to tell that lecher of a demon that . . . that . . .

Finally you just whispered in a low tone of defeat: ,,Alright. Good night, lord Sesshomaru.''

You turned around to walk back to your room, not expecting him to reply or say anything more to make you feel better. Which he didn't. You walked slowly towards your room eyeing the door every now and then. You stopped in front of it, burying your toes in the floor before you opened it slowly, carefully . . .

Of course he was still there. Anger swelled up and you took a deep breath as you saw him lying in your bed, but he spoke before you: ,,Oh, there you are, little diamond. Shall we continue where you left off?''

You decided to try again; how stubborn could he really be? You had been turning him down, telling him for a long while to leave, right?

,,If you would please just leave me alone. It has been a very long day for me, and Rin will be waking up early tomorrow and I need to be awake when she does.''

You stared angered at the cat in the bed who simply laughed and asked: ,,What were you doing? Out there, I mean. I was starting to get lonely here in this big room, all by myself . . . I allowed myself to have a look around. But since you haven't been here for a long time, you can't have already put your own special style on the place. Have you?''

You said once more warningly: ,,Lord Katsuro, you are aware that my reputation as an honorable girl will be ruined if you don't leave.''

Lord Katsuro rolled over to his back and sighed, answering in a sad tone: ,,Why do you always say that I have to leave you dear miss Sayuri? I promise we won't be loud . . .''

You cut him off right there and snapped: ,,There won't be anything going on here Lord Katsuro. It's my time of the month. Besides, I do not want anything to do with you . . . _**That way**_, thank you very much.''

Now he sniffed the air, surprised and said innocently: ,,My oh my . . . Maybe I'll just return in a week and we will continue this lovely conversation. . .''

You tried your best to keep your voice down but this time it failed a bit: ,,_**Just get out of my room**_!''

He was even more surprised by your sudden outburst, and said: ,,There is some powder in this barrel, isn't there?''

You were shaking from anger and exhaustion, asking him angry: ,,What is it with you?! What can't you possibly understand in these two words; GET OUT! It isn't much to translate, IS THERE?! Just get out . . .!''

He still didn't move, and was smirking. He was annoying. You decided never to talk to him again on that second. You knew though that you probably would have to one day, but you just decided not to think of that right now. But suddenly his expression changed and he stared at you with interest, even a question in his eyes. You glared at him: ,,Well? Or do I have to start throwing things at you?''

Katsuro still didn't move. You wished that someone big and strong would come and throw him out. But since he didn't move and the chances of anyone coming to your aid were close to zero. You sighed and decided; fine. If he wouldn't leave . . .

As you got closer to your bed, the more interested the damned cat became. Suddenly he seemed to snap out of it and asked playfully: ,,So, you have changed your mind? Come on, cuddle with me . . . Wait, what are you doing?''

You were taking the pillow from him. Then you took the corner of your blanketand pulled it from under him: ,,If you won't go, then I will. Good night.''

And with that you just walked out of the room. The Lord was sitting in the bed, not totally sure of what just happened, and watched you walk out.

You found a nice spot in a corner not very far from your room. Just the next hallway or so. It wasn't like you weren't used to sleep on a hard floor, but you usually had a little private space. You were sleepy and placed the pillow up to the wall and curled up. You yawned and prayed that you wouldn't be caught by lord Sesshomaru, sleeping in the hallway.

*Sesshomaru's POV*

This was one of those nights were you knew you wouldn't be able to sleep. At least not yet. The summit with Katsuro had rattled your bones and you felt at unease. The plan was flawed and so many things could go wrong. You didn't want any war against Nori. You just wanted to smash him in one blow and be over with it.

Instead of lying in bed and thinking about these things you wandered the castle. It was quiet so you listened carefully for any sounds, any disturbances on your property. You heard some of the servants gathering when you stepped onto balconies in the back of the house, realizing quickly that they were lovers meeting. You would have to get rid of one of them.

You felt warmth where the girl had bumped into your chest before. You glared at the earth below you and turned away from the moon. You walked back inside wondering if the girl had been successful in getting the cat out of your home. When she had confirmed your worries, that the cat would not leave your home, you had felt anger blow up in your body. Thrice damned cat, of course he couldn't just leave without seeing the girl. And leave, of course. The meeting was over and all that.

You suddenly saw her blushing face as you had ordered her to tell Katsuro that it was her vulnerable time and he should leave her alone. You grimaced; what else could you have said? How were you supposed to know what to call that . . . State? It was obvious that she had been embarrassed once you mentioned this, though you were unsure as of why; wasn't this a normal state in womanhood? Wasn't this something every woman went through, demon or human? She _**was**_ in that time of the month, wasn't she?

You growled unexpectedly, unused to be questioning yourself over something so trivial. Especially something concerning that girl. When you thought of her you always got that same feeling; warm, quick and blood rush. You weren't sure what it was, but it wasn't hate, even though you despised the girl and how _**familiar**_ she looked. Maybe that was just it.

You again wondered if Katsuro was gone, if she had succeeded in following your instructions, but you did doubt it. You had heard her voice from her room a couple of minutes ago and it sounded rather pitched, annoyed. Then louder, which you guessed was because she had yelled at the cat, making the anger in your chest spike up. You guessed that you should go and get the cat out of her room; Rin would be insufferable if the girl would not be well rested for tomorrow. You walked towards her room. Your room was almost next to hers, so technically you were walking to your room.

You stopped when you saw her, huddled in a corner and sleeping soundly by the cold wall, on the floor. The blanket she had taken with her had fallen down her shoulders, resting in her lap. You raised an eyebrow as you began walking towards her room, the smell of the cat lingering in the air. You stopped again though, turning around to pick the girl up, gently, you did not feel like answering her questions and have her look at you the way she did before. You stopped once you touched her, a sharp shock through your body. You glared at her; just another thing you despised. You picked her up, tad surprised about how light she was. You narrowed your eyes at the door as you opened it to reveal the cat lying in her bed, making it now reek of his disgusting feline smell. You put down a mental note to tell someone to change the sheets first thing in the morning.

Katsuro didn't seem in a hurry to leave when you walked inside. He slowly sat up, smirking at the image of you holding the human: ,,My, my. So you really do care. A bit.''

You glared at him telling him as it was: ,,That she is sleeping in my hallways. Get out.''

Katsuro stood up from the bed with a wider smirk: ,,That's the same thing she said! You two have _**so**_ much in common. Don't understand why you agree on _**that**_ part, I'm not doing anything to annoy anyone . . .''

,,Refusing to leave my residence irritates myself. Seducing a young human is rather frustrating for said human in addition to you refusing to leave her quarters. That along with anything else you do or say irritates most people.''

Katsuro laughed out loud as he watched you lay the girl down in her bed, not bothering to place anything else over her, so the cat did with unusual care: ,,Oh, Sesshomaru, you make me laugh! But how can you be so mean . . . oh, sorry, that's not an insult to you, is it? Let me start again; how can you be so cruel . . . no, again; not an insult,'' the cat pretended to be in deep thinking before he pointed at your obviously annoyed face: ,,Ah, I have it; how can you say such a thing, Sesshomaru? I'm an interesting cat, I respect everyone, especially the ladies and their needs. But heck, why am I even speaking to you about women? It is not like you have any interest in them, do you . . .''

A thrilling need to kill the cat was throbbing in your body: ,,This deal of ours will be over soon enough. Now leave, before it will end sooner.''

The cat smiled; he knew he wouldn't dare to risk it, at least not here. He did, after all, consider Sesshomaru somewhat of a friend. He looked back down at the girl sleeping soundly, not even stirring by the conversation going on around her bed. He looked in deep thought, staring at her face; did she really look that much like _**him**_?

Katsuro glanced back up at Sesshomaru and smiled: ,,Ah yes. Of course. I will leave now. But I would like to ask you one last thing, Sesshomaru.''

You raised an eyebrow at the cat; what could he possibly want? You waited for him to answer, watching him watching her: ,,Keep her away from the rest of the lords, would you? I believe you may have stumbled across something really, really special in this girl.''

You were careful not to show your curiosity; he saw it too? But then the cat gave you his promiscuous smirk and told you: ,,Oh, but you should have seen how beautiful she was when she got angry. I believe I'm going to make a stop on my way home, some fair ladies offered me a bed at their home . . .''

And as quickly as they come, he went out the balconies and disappeared. You glared after him; how disgusting and distasteful he could be. You glanced over to the girl, still sleeping. Again you wondered; who was she?

You walked out of the room, feeling that cursed warm feeling in your body increase.

* * *

Alright. Please review if you feel like it! Thank you!


	6. Chapter 6

Hi! Alright, chapter 6 and everything looks a lot better in this chapter than in 2006! ;) Hope you can enjoy it!

* * *

*Flash Back*

Katsuro glanced back up at Sesshomaru and smiled: ,,Ah yes. Of course. I will leave now. But I would like to ask you one last thing, Sesshomaru.''

You raised an eyebrow at the cat; what could he possibly want? You waited for him to answer, watching him watching her: ,,Keep her away from the rest of the lords, would you? I believe you may have stumbled across something really, really special in this girl.''

You were careful not to show your curiosity; he saw it too? But then the cat gave you his promiscuous smirk and told you: ,,Oh, but you should have seen how beautiful she was when she got angry. I believe I'm going to make a stop on my way home, some fair ladies offered me a bed at their home . . .''

And as quickly as they come, he went out the balconies and disappeared. You glared after him; how disgusting and distasteful he could be. You glanced over to the girl, still sleeping. Again you wondered; who was she?

You walked out of the room, feeling that cursed warm feeling in your body increase.

*End of Flash Back*

* * *

You felt the soft material under you, and the smell of a new morning. And a sound of a door opening. And then you saw a jumping Rin which was super careful not to wake you. It was still too early, for even Rin, to wake up. She whispered a little scared. ,,Yuri-chan? Are you awake? Please be . . .''

You turned to her and said in a concerned voice: ,,What's wrong Rin?,,

She whispered: ,,I think there is a goblin under my bed. He shook it and everything, then I woke up and he's hiding now . . .''

You smiled; there were probably easier ways to ask if she could sleep in your bed, but you didn't mind: ,,You can sleep here Rin. But just for tonight. And please don't be too loud when we get up later?''

She smiled sleepily: ,,Okay, Yuri-chan.''

Then she fell asleep in your arms. You smiled and kissed the top of her head. You held her and her little hands were wrapped around you somehow. Then you fell asleep again, wondering how you got back to bed.

You woke up. Or Rin woke you up. It was around eight, so you were glad that Rin slept for that ,,long,,. She smiled happily and said: ,,I dreamt that I found a little kitty by the pond, and Lord Sesshomaru let me keep it and . . . !''

You looked at her confused, not fully understanding why the sudden dream telling in the morning. You could only reply with a sleepy: ,,Yeah, okay Rin, that's nice. Umh, I'm hungry. Do you want to get something to eat?''

She agreed on that and said that Natsuko-chan always made her breakfast. You nodded, hopping around as you tried to get a new kimono on. You then asked Rin if she could go and get dressed while you would go to the bathroom and get ready. So while Rin did exactly that, you brushed your teeth again, your hair and washed your face a bit. You then thought back to the previous night, trying hard to remember if you had maybe walked yourself back to your room, though you doubted that, since you didn't know your way completely around yet. Did Lord Katsuro leave? Was it maybe him who came and placed you back in your bed?

#Huh. Maybe he's not such a back guy after all.#

You got back out and noticed that Rin was still not there yet, so you decided to meet her in her room instead. Once you got there you saw how much fuzz it was for her to get ready; which kimono should she wear today?! You laughed at her, but helped her anyway. You helped her brush her hair and her teeth before the two of you walked downstairs to the kitchen. The servants were already awake and you noticed that they weren't as many as yesterday. You saw the "kitchen boy", Takehiko, so you asked him. He looked at you surprised and said: ,,You haven't noticed? We're all low-class demons. We're six. The reason we were so many yesterday is because of that girl, the one with the pink hair. Her name's Aya, she can multiply.''

You nodded: ,,Oh. There are only six of you? And you all just came here . . . ?''

Takehiko scoffed: ,,Hah! No! We're slaves here. The only ones who "just came here" are you and Natsuko. Don't get why, though; debt to the lord or not, I would have just scrammed once I had the chance.''

You frowned: ,,Wait, wasn't it you who told me to keep my complaints low? Because the lord could get . . . well, get bad tempered about it?''

He didn't answer, just looked away to the other servants working. Aya was chopping stuff, and another Aya was boiling something for tea and another one was baking something. You added: ,,You are a weird one, that's for sure. But that's okay.''

You smiled to him and winked: ,,I guess it's something you get used to, right?''

He smiled back and laughed: ,,Jeez, you're telling me _**I'm**_ weird? I think you're crazy, coming here by your own free will . . .''

You rolled your eyes a bit playfully, still getting a little annoyed by his talk: ,,Wow, great ratings I'm getting here! I still think I'm going to like it here, even if you don't.''

,,Who said I didn't like it here?''

You gave him a bright smile and told him with a small amount of warning in your voice: ,,Well, you are doing an awful lot of complaining for someone who likes it here.''

You smiled at his darkening face and decided to retreat for now, wondering if you had gone over the line. You smiled to Rin as you approached her, thought you wondered how many things you could have for breakfast. When Rin finally decided on some bread and fruits, she asked about lord Sesshomaru, if he was awake yet. Natsuko smiled and answered apologetically: ,,I don't know, Rin, but I believe he was up late, so you shouldn't expect him to wake up soon.''

Natsuko's face reddened as she spoke and you wondered why. You were distracted again when Rin asked: ,,Sesshomaru-sama has been doing that a lot lately. Why is he doing that? Do you think he's worried? I can't sleep when _**I'm**_ worried.''

You nodded and were going to answer her, when Natsuko said: ,,Well, he might be Rin. But maybe it was something else.''

You nodded: ,,Yeah, Rin. I mean, he did have that meeting with Lord Katsuro last night, right? Maybe he was just thinking about that so much that he couldn't sleep. I'm sure it was nothing serious.''

Rin nodded: ,,Yeah, they did seem very serious last night. They talked a lot about army's and stuff.''

You nodded: ,,Uh-huh, I didn't listen too much, though. They were so boring . . . !''

Rin laughed and agreed with you. Soon Natsuko came back with your breakfast and you talked to Rin about your "meeting" with that girl, Miu. Rin wasn't all too happy, since you didn't even know how long it would take, but she didn't argue. After breakfast the two of your retreated back to Rin's play room; it was getting a bit colder outside now.

Soon it was time for lunch and you entered before Lord Sesshomaru did. He seemed even more frustrated than usual, or so you thought. The air felt heavier and he stared at either of you if you made too much noise. You would have asked him if there was something bothering him, but you guessed that it wasn't your place and that Lord Sesshomaru would only get more irritated if you would bother him.

Once lunch was over you parted ways with Rin. Lord Sesshomaru walked back up to the second floor, Rin eyed you before she darted upstairs. You glared in all directions, before you walked over to the kitchen to ask which way was the fastest to the backyard.

When you finally found the best way to the backyard, there was just one young girl there. She had brownish – reddish hair and brown eyes. She was holding up a bow and had already put up a shooting target. As she stretched the bow she drew her breath and tested him, breathing out as she shot the target. It went straight through the middle. You gasped at the force; that tiny girl did that?! She was even smaller than you! You jumped when she said: ,,You're late. I was getting bored.''

You were unsure how to answer that remark, so you just said: ,,I'm sorry. The lord decided to take a long lunch.''

Miu was drawing another arrow and shot it before she told you in a bored tone: ,,Really; I don't care. I'm just here by the lord's orders. I have no idea why and no idea how long, but you better make it worth it.''

You didn't feel like she liked you much, so you just nodded: ,,I'll try my best, I guess. I'm Sayuri, by the way.''

She nodded and waved you: ,,Yeah, yeah. Just show me your arms.''

You raised an eyebrow, but you didn't question. Miu asked you if you had done any hard labor, ever, and you nodded: ,,Yeah, I worked most of the time in a mine, pushing carts. Then I was babysitting. And cleaning.''

Miu nodded: ,,Fine. Good, good. Looks like you're in a pretty good shape. Have you ever held a weapon before?''

You stared at her, shocked. Why would you have held a weapon? You decline that, as well as having ever resulted to violence.

,,No, I mean ever.''

You nodded: ,,Yeah, so do I. I've never hit another person. Ever. I don't believe in violence, especially that it solves anything.''

Miu stared at you, obviously hoping for you to be joking. When you didn't add a laugh or a "just kidding" at the end of that sentence, she hissed at you: ,,This is absolutely hopeless! _**You**_ are absolutely hopeless! I'm supposed to turn you, a little wannabe priestess into some kind of a warrior! That's the joke around here!''

You blushed, remembering Kai's words: ,,This is the second time someone has said that. Why can't I just be a person who is against violence? It's just my opinion and it's not like I'm judging you or calling you stuff because you "like" violence or anything . . .''

Miu didn't listen, or she pretended not to be. She handed you the bow she had been holding: ,,Hold it.''

You stood there with it and asked: ,,Now what?''

She glared at you and snapped: ,,At least try to hold it right!'' and handed you an arrow. She went over to the target and dragged it closer to you, then asked you to shoot it. You hesitated; you weren't sure if you really knew how to hold the bow or get the arrow ready. Miu hissed at you: ,,You saw me do it, now do it! Are you too much of a coward to?!''

You angrily looked at the target, and placed the arrow like you saw Miu do earlier. Then you locked on the target, pulled the string with the arrow as far back as you could as you took a deep breath, checking the target again before releasing the arrow as you breathed away. You smiled as you watched the arrow hit the target, the smile going down a bit when the target fell hard to the ground by the force. You looked scared at Miu, who nodded in approval: ,,You have the strength for it, that's for sure.''

She pulled the target back on its feet and nodded again as the arrow was nearly in the middle: ,,Good accuracy. We'll be taking it further back.''

She pulled it back a few meters so the target was fifteen meters away. She motioned for you to shoot it again and you tried.

You drew the arrow slowly, and again you aimed. This was more difficult then it seemed. The way you had to stretch your arm back wasn't really comfortable, and it was hard to aim. But you let the arrow slide through the air again, and it hit the target, not exactly in the middle but close enough. Miu sighed: ,,Why didn't you tell me you had fired a bow before?''

You looked at her and answered: ,,Because I haven't. I have never done this before in my life. But I did throw some rocks when I didn't have anything to do.''

She smirked: ,,Well, that's that. We could still practice it a bit more; you hit it just outside the middle. But of course your bow skills can't get as perfect as demons could, but you can get pretty good if we keep practicing. Now, I think we just settle with the bow.''

You nodded, and for the next hour you were shooting of a bow, and hitting many targets. Some were moving, others weren't, once, you had to hit as many targets you could in a minute, and then ,,class" was over.

Miu took the bow, and arrows, and said: ,,You have to meet me by the little pond over there, tomorrow same time. And wear something you can move easily in and something which can get dirty.''

,,Umh, okay.''

,,Then you can go. Bye.,,

You walked back inside the house, still a bit thrilled about how well the lesson went, jumping up the stairs to you room, both to change and to wash of the sweat from shooting off the bow.

When you got from the shower you went to Rin's room and stopped in shock; she was playing with Jaken. Rin was laughing, and Jaken was sitting there, obviously feeling miserable and sorry for himself. You giggled a bit, too low for Jaken to hear, thankfully, and then you went back to your room.

You smiled, and decided to make yourself feel good, just for a while. You walked happily to the balconies, and smelled the fresh air. You were pretty happy here and guessed that you would be. You had food; you had a roof over your head, a bed to sleep in. You had all the things you needed. With the exception of family.

Your heart ached, as you remembered everything you had lost. The burning village was visualizing before you. The smell came again, the sounds of the fire burning everything, the heat from the flames when you entered the village; the paralyzing truth about your whole life, being slain and the little pieces being swept away.

Your knees shook, and then pain as you fell to the harsh floor. You started sobbing uncontrollably and your whole body shook. You had never felt so alone in the world, like no one knew you. Like no one cared. Like your heart was suffocating from the squeezing grip of the ice cold hand of sorrow. The sobs became more intense, and the soft cries from your dried mouth became louder. Then, you cried out: ,,Why didn't he kill _me_?!''

The pain in your heart was softening, but it was still there. You dried your tears, and stood up. This emotional outburst of yours was something you didn't want to share with anyone. The pain you were feeling was nothing you wanted others to felt it was private to cry, even if it was just a small thing.

You stood up and tried not to fall down again. You went to the bathroom and tried to cool our eyes down. You weren't one of the women who could actually cry without their eyes getting all swollen and red.

You laughed a little at the silly crying. What was that? It wasn't like it would help anything if you would cry. They wouldn't come back or anything. They would just stay dead, and would be like that forever. There was nothing you could actually do to . . . erase the past? To make it all go away? Make the dead live again?

,,It's wrong to take another creatures life. What is someone thinking of himself, just marching in and be all like: Hey, I'm just gonna be a higher power today, and kill all of these tiny little villagers, who can't save themselves from a powerful demon like me!

That's just wrong. No one should be able to do that. I guess this world is just like that guy Kai described him to be. Kill or be killed. The world is a jungle of chaos. But there has to be something good in it, right?''

You talked to yourself, trying to convince you that the sight wasn't so bad, and it worked. You turned around and headed to the door.

#Wow, what gives? No one here when I'm talking to myself? My luck must be changing . . .#

Then you walked out of the bathroom and yet again, someone was by your balcony. Before you could stop it you said: ,,On the other hand, maybe not.''

The person was none other than Takehiko. He turned around blushing. You felt your cheeks get warmer, and you stammered up: ,,Wha . . . What are you doing . . . here . . .?''

He walked closer to you and said apologizing tone: ,,Well, I wanted to say I'm sorry, for the thing this morning. I wasn't able to get here sooner, I have been busting my butt of, ya know? Look, I'm sorry, okay? You were right, it was just your opinion, and I shouldn't try to change that. And you're not crazy.''

You smiled sweetly at him, he was pretty uncomfortable. He blushed, and stammered a bit, and obviously was ashamed. You smiled brighter: ,,Okay It's okay. I was a bit rude, too, so I'm sorry, too. I don't have any friends here, so I'll be needing someone to hang around with.''

He smiled back and asked: ,,What? So I'm not your friend?''

You were surprised and said quickly: ,,You want to be?''

He shrugged and said: ,,Yeah, of course. Or else I wouldn't be here, would I?''

You smiled and put out your hand: ,,So, friends?''

He took it after some thought and pulled you to a hug: ,,Friends.''

You blushed heavily, but in a good way. It felt nice to have someone bigger and stronger to hold you for a bit. When he let you go he asked: ,,But, I heard you crying, just a few minutes ago. Wanna share a bit about that?''

You shrugged and said: ,,Nah! It was nothing! Probably just over heard or something.''

He looked at you with a serious look in his eyes and a raised eyebrow: ,,You know, you're a terrible liar . . .''

You looked at the very interesting floor and said in a sad tone: ,,I know . . .''

Takehiko did not give in at all, asking you again seriously: ,,But what's wrong? I mean, I heard it all down the hallway . . .''

,,Well, you must have an excellent hearing or something . . .'' you mumbled, not really wanting to talk about it, like, at all.

,,I'm a demon,'' he stated in a "well-duh" kind of tone: ,,Of course I do. But what's wrong? Did I hear right when you asked "why didn't he kill me"?''

You looked up to him and said rather loudly: ,,How could you have heard that?! It was like ten minutes ago . . .!''

He shook his head: ,,Did I ever say anything about how long I've been here?''

You looked away and said stubbornly: ,,It was nothing, okay? Nothing at all. It's all over now, I'm not a crybaby. So, why are you not working, mister?''

He didn't want to give up, but he understood you. He sighed and answered in a lazy voice: ,,I asked for a small break to see you. I got Aya to cover for me for a while . . .''

,,Aya?''

,,The multiplier.''

,,Pink haired one, always smiling, and seems to always be in a _**really**_ hyperactive-kind of a good mood?''

,,Yeah. Well she's covering up for me.''

,,Okay, but won't you get into trouble, or something?''

He shrugged. Apparently, it was the most popular expression between you two. He answered though: ,,Nah, I never get in trouble,'' he said; ,,I know how to avoid them. I just have to stay away from The Bootlicker and everything will be fine.''

You looked at him with confusion: ,,The Bootlicker?''

,,The little, green, old, glass eyed imp that follows the Lord everywhere.''

,,Jaken?''

,,Yeah.''

,,Oh. He's a "bootlicker"?''

,,Worse. He's just really irritating, and he almost kisses the ground where ever the Lord puts down his feet. It kinda sick, in a way.''

You smirked. You said giggling: ,,Well I can't really agree to that, but he can be annoying . . .''

A cold voice interrupted: ,,Servants from the lower floors are prohibited from the second floor without a permission, isn't that correct.''

You both turned to see a stone-faced Lord Sesshomaru. You looked down to his feet quickly and replied in haste: ,,Lord Sesshomaru! I . . .''

His voice said clearly and as sharp as glass: ,,Do not speak when no one is speaking to you.''

Takehiko took a deep breath and explained: ,,My Lord, I am sorry. I was going to beg miss Sayuri for forgiveness. We had a small argument.''

Now the Lord looked at you with a glare which could probably freeze water: ,,What are his reasons for remaining in your room for this long.''

You tried to find the perfect words to explain this. It wasn't right for a male to be in a female's bedroom, unless he was her husband or a close relative, or there was some urgent matter to discuss. Or at least, that was what your mother told you.

,,My Lord, he is in here because I thought this matter should be talked about in private. I had some things I had to apologize for, myself, and I don't like rumors to spread, whether it's in side the castle, or outside of it. I hope there won't be any other problems in the future regarding matters as this one. And of course I was careful to keep the door to the hallway open, so it wouldn't seem as bad.''

You felt his strong gaze upon you and you felt like he was just doing this to get a kick out of it. If he could get a kick out of anything, that is. Then Lord Sesshomaru's voice rang like a whip: ,,Boy, get back to work. Human; were you not brought here to take care of Rin.''

Takehiko bowed and you answered the question: ,,Yes, my Lord, I was. I am sorry.''

The room was silent for a while, until Lord Sesshomaru said: ,,Get to it.''

You both snapped as you realized he had just dismissed you a while ago and headed for the door. Lord Sesshomaru said as Takehiko walked out the door before you: ,,I will deal with you later. Human, stay. I have unfinished business with you.''

You froze, scared of whatever it was he wanted with you. Takehiko looked worried to you, but you just gave him a small smile and reassured him that it would be okay. When he was gone, the lord asked: ,,You have unusual connections with men you meet.''

You weren't sure how to answer this, so you asked: ,,What do you mean, my lord?''

He continued as emotionlessly, looking around the room: ,,Don't act as if you don't know what I am talking about. Why do men you meet constantly follow you and enter my home uninvited.''

You looked at your feet, confused: ,,I'm sorry, my lord, but I don't know why. It has always been like this; people are drawn to me, I guess. I don't have a better explanation.''

I looked up to him for just a second and that second told you that he was, most likely, thinking. Then he spoke: ,,Whatever it is; stop it immediately. I don't appreciate all of your guests.''

You couldn't help yourself; you looked up at him in surprise and asked: ,,Am I supposed to make people dislike me?''

You were looking into his eyes, watched them narrow and realized how disrespectful you were. Lord Sesshomaru growled: ,,Who do you think you are.''

He slapped you, your knees gave in and you fell down on the floor, tears filling your eyes. You looked up again: ,,I'm sorry, my Lord! I didn't mean to . . . !''

He hit you again. Then again. Your face was burning from the pain, blood taste spread in your mouth since you had bitten your tongue in order not to yell out. You tried to take a deep breath, but sobs just came instead. You looked up, when you thought that you heard the lord say: ,,Pathetic.''

You swore that he had a small smirk on his face. But it was gone as soon as you thought you saw it and another blow hit your cheek. You felt anger and misery fill your heart; why? Why, why, why?!

,,_**Stop it**_!''

The silence was deadly, but the hitting stopped. You sobbed one more time, before you said slowly: ,,Please, stop it! I can't take any more of this! I think that I've been through enough for now, it's a bit too much when you keep hitting me for something I don't know what is . . . ! I haven't done anything wrong, nothing terrible! I just asked if I was supposed to make people dislike me, but it's not something you can just change! I'm actually starting to wish I went home to eat lunch with my drunken father. At least it would be better than _**this**_!''

You had lost all control; you shook, sobs and hiccups were crashing through your body. You mouth kept on voicing your thoughts and you just couldn't stop! You shook your head as you grabbed it when you heard your voice talk louder: ,,I can't tolerate it! I'll be dead before I know it! Or maybe I'll go crazy, or maybe I'll already am . . . I feel so light, so free, and I just don't care about anything, I just want to go away. I just want to die. Just like everybody else did. They just died. Killed, murdered, slaughtered like animals, sliced open, bled to death, burned and just slaughtered. Dead, dead, dead. How should I die? I almost did, when I fell down the balconies,'' your voice was calmer now, sad. You saw their faces, everyone who died. So many faces. You then suddenly saw lord Sesshomaru and you felt fear strike your heart again: ,,But what if the lord won't allow me to die?! Then what?! No, no, he won't, he doesn't care. He doesn't care about anyone. It's almost like he doesn't have a heart. He's a cruel, heartless, mean, bad, evil, and stuff like that.

Just like the demon who killed all of them. I wasn't there for any of them, when they needed me. For my father, or Ritsu, my poor Ritsu. He's all alone in the next world . . . Unless I will die, too, and then he won't be alone, I might even be able to see Keiko and Yuki, my father and maybe even my mother! And my siblings! I want to see them, the little kids, my brothers and sister and everyone else . . .''

You kept on rambling to yourself, Sesshomaru just standing there, watching you and listening to you count the people you lost. Suddenly you shook your head and scolded yourself: ,,What am I talking about; I can't die! What about Rin?! She'll probably miss me, even though just a little. She is depending on me a bit now, like who else would really take care of her if Lord Sesshomaru won't return one day? But he can't die. Or maybe he can. He is a demon, do demons even die? But what will happen if he can die, and will die one day? Will Rin live with Jaken? She can't live with him, no way, he doesn't like her all too much. Not like Lord Sesshomaru. How can he be heartless if he cares about her? He must have a heart, then; somewhere deep under his armor of ice. Under the ice. Inside the ice. Maybe made out of ice? No. He can't be all evil and cold. I don't think anyone is. I won't believe it. No, I deny the accusation of Lord Sesshomaru of the Western lands being heartless. He has to have one.''

You smiled, determinedly believing in your statement. You felt happy, even though it was just a bit and decided when you looked up to see the demon standing in front of you: ,,I really do believe that, Lord Sesshomaru. I'm going to find it, I promise!''

You nodded deciding this instant that it would be your mission; to find lord Sesshomaru's heart. Lord Sesshomaru just closed his eyes in annoyance when you continued: ,,I think you do have a heart somewhere in there, just like I do. Maybe mine is just bigger. A lot bigger. Like ten thousand times bigger,'' You looked back up to him and smiled, some sanity returning to you as you giggled: ,,Or maybe I just show mine more often, who knows.''

You closed your eyes again as you went over what happened in your mind, only to find it oddly dreamlike, blanks everywhere. You opened your eyes when Lord Sesshomaru replied to you: ,,Do not talk unless someone addresses you,'' before a sharp pain hit the back of your head and everything went black.

* * *

See; it's a bit better, right? At least I like it better. Anyway, hope you liked it and hope you'll review! Thank you!


	7. Chapter 7

*Flash Back*

You smiled, determinedly believing in your statement. You felt happy, even though it was just a bit and decided when you looked up to see the demon standing in front of you: ,,I really do believe that, Lord Sesshomaru. I'm going to find it, I promise!''

You nodded deciding this instant that it would be your mission; to find lord Sesshomaru's heart. Lord Sesshomaru just closed his eyes in annoyance when you continued: ,,I think you do have a heart somewhere in there, just like I do. Maybe mine is just bigger. A lot bigger. Like ten thousand times bigger,'' You looked back up to him and smiled, some sanity returning to you as you giggled: ,,Or maybe I just show mine more often, who knows.''

You closed your eyes again as you went over what happened in your mind, only to find it oddly dreamlike, blanks everywhere. You opened your eyes when Lord Sesshomaru replied to you: ,,Do not talk unless someone addresses you,'' before a sharp pain hit the back of your head and everything went black.

*End of Flash Back*

* * *

*Your POV*

The pain in the back of your head was fading away slowly, but too slow. You groaned and sat up. You were still on the floor since Sesshomaru, most likely, hit your head. That was pretty much the only thing you remembered. You wondered why he didn't kill you when you yelled at him to stop. He would probably have. But what did you say after that?

Your head ached even more as you tried to remember. Everything was just a blur, black holes and some mist. You stood up and stumbled over to your bed. You sat down on the soft covers and hugged one of your pillows. Your hand reached to the back of your head, where the pain was the most. To your surprise, and a low ,,Ouch!'' sound, there was a bump by the size of a chicken egg. Ok, so maybe you exaggerated, but it was huge.

A bit of a flash back came to you, Lord Sesshomaru said something in the end . . . About not to talk unless you were spoken to? Something like that.

Then the doors flew open and a high-pitched voice yelled: ,,Where were you Yuri-chan?! I have been looking for you! What's wrong? Are you feeling sick? Your face is so white . . .''

You smiled to her and said: ,,I'm fine Rin, I just have a little headache. So please, don't be too loud?''

She whispered to you: ,,Okay Yuri-chan! I won't be loud, I promise! But aren't you hungry? I was looking for you because dinner is ready.''

You stood up and said: ,,Oh, is it already so late? I must get myself ready.''

You walked slowly to the bathroom and brushed your hair, tried your best to not look like a zombie, and then you went back to Rin who was constantly whispering: ,,Hurry up Yuri-chan! We'll be late!''

Then you hurried down stairs, just in time for dinner. When seated, everything was as usual. The silence, the only noise was when someone had to cough, or drink, or hit the dishes to hard. Finally the dinner was over, with all of its nervous silence. You and Rin ran upstairs, and you drew a bit. When Rin was getting bored of that she asked: ,,Yuri-chan, what does my name mean?''

You looked up from the master piece you were creating, and asked: ,,Why do you want to know?''

,,I'm curious! Do you know?''

,,Yeah, Rin means cold. Like snow, or something like that. Yeah, cold.''

She whined: ,,I don't want to be named Cold! That's so . . . snowy! And cold.''

You smiled at her frowning and said: ,,Well I think it suits you. Sometimes you really need to cool down, but you also like snow, don't you?''

,,Yeah! I love snow!''

You laughed and Rin asked what your name meant. You thought about it for a while and then you said: ,,I think it means ,,small lily,,. Yuri means Lily.''

Rin smiled and said: ,,Wow! Do you know what other names mean too?''

You nodded and said: ,,I think I know what most of them mean. Not all though. Let's see, let's write them down and their meanings.''

You wrote all the names of those you knew and Rin read it out loud:

,,Rin means Cold.

Sayuri means Small Lily.

Natsuko means Summer Child.

Takehiko means Soldier Prince.

Miu means Beautiful Feather.

Aya means colorful.''

She looked up to you and asked: ,,What about your friend? The demon?''

,,Who? Kai?''

,,Yeah.''

You thought about it but you weren't sure. Kai wasn't the most common name.

,,But his sister, Yoshi, it either means goodness, luck or free. It can be one of those.''

,,What abut Sesshomaru-sama? What does his name mean?''

You wrote it down and the only thing closest to it was Destruction Man. You didn't want to tell Rin what it meant, so you just smiled and said: ,,I'm not sure either. That is most certainly not a common name.''

,,What about the other Lord that came to visit us?''

,,Lord Katsuro?''

,,Aha!''

,,Uhh . . . It could be victorious son. You know, the most common girls names end with -ko, which means child, like Akiko, which means autumn child. But boys names often end with –ro which you can take as the number of sons, like Ichiro, Jiro, and such.''

,,Really?! How do you know these things? You are so smart!''

You laughed and said: ,,No, I'm not. This is just something I like, it's like a hobby.''

What was left of the evening you talked about this sort of stuff. When it was time for bed, you lay Rin to sleep and went to your room, exhausted after this day.

Two and a half months pass. Nothing spectacular happened and nothing out of the ordinary. Sometimes you and Rin walked out to the woods, and there you met Kai and Yoshi. Yoshi and Rin became good friends, while Rin and Kai had an odd kind of relationship of an older brother and a younger sister. You and Yoshi became good friends as well, but you and Kai became closer. He told you about his family, and a bit about his past. You also told him bits and pieces from your own life. But you had to be careful not to come to close, and not to touch. Lord Sesshomaru was getting annoyed about the smell which always was stuck on you two after you came from the woods. You had an excellent excuse about that there were many demons in the forest, and of course Kai and Yoshi would be there sometimes. You knew he could make them go away from his land, or kill them, but he never did.

You and Takehiko also became closer. Your nickname for him was Tako if you were in a good mood, which you normally were, but sometimes you called him by his real name. Rin always called him Tako-chan. You sometimes had to work in the kitchen, and when you were getting pissed off by the sometimes unnatural activeness surrounding Tako, you used your first nickname on him; Kitchen Boy. Once when he was complaining about how many names you had for him you simply said: ,,Your fault for having such a long name, Tako!''

Natsuko also became one of your closest friends, and you actually felt like you had a confidential friend. But ever when it came to discuss any love life, she would close up. You didn't want to make her tell, so you just let her be that way.

The practices with Miu were getting along and you became stronger by everyday. It was tough and you were often hurt, but you still didn't whine, and cry about it. Miu was also getting warmer, and she wasn't as pissed off as she had been the first class.

You got to know the other servants as well. You had already known Tako, Natsuko and Miu, and you soon learned to communicate with Aya, who was normally The Hyper of Death, and Masaru, who was a metal demon He wasn't open much though. He barely ever spoke, and didn't like strangers, or people at all. And there was also a Cat demon girl, which name was Chika. She had brown hair, and cat ears and tail. Yuuki was still the most pleasant one of them all. He was shy, and had light hair and green-ish eyes. He was a bit shy, but loved to help.

All of them had a sad story of their own. They didn't like to talk about it, so no one talked about the time before they came to Sesshomaru.

It only happened twice. That Sesshomaru had to hit you. He didn't give you a bad treatment, but neither of these two times you felt as if you deserved it. Both were because he saw you laughing with Tako. Or smiling of something funny he said. But once you noticed that Sesshomaru disappeared for a week. He didn't show himself at all. You tried to ask Jaken, but he just mumbled something about you being noisy, and not your business.

When he got back, the tension was gone. He wasn't as, well; jumpy, as before.

Your birthday was about a month and a half away, and you were getting excited, but depressed at the same time. You were excited over becoming a woman, but depressed to not have your family to witness this event with you. Once, out in the woods you shared this information with Kai. He said: ,,Sayuri, I know it's hard. But you have to accept that they aren't here anymore. They are gone. Live in the present. You have me and Yoshi. And definitely Rin. You must have some friends in the castle who'll wish you a happy birthday and congratulations to . . . become a woman, right?''

,,How many times do I have to repeat myself? Yes; I become a full grown woman, by the laws of my village. It's just like that. Sixteen years since your birth, and sixteen more until you will become 32, and you can be a grandmother. If you will be so lucky to have children at sixteen. You know, I already had a boy asking me.''

He looked at you suspiciously: ,,Asking you for what?''

You said offended, finding it bizarre that Kai didn't know what you were talking about: ,,To get married of course!''

Kai almost fell from the tree he was sitting in, before yelling at you, shocked: ,,WHAT?!''

You felt a bit offended and asked: ,,What do you mean by "what"?!''

You noticed that his face was maybe a teeny bit flushed, but he quickly laughed and teased you: ,,As in; who would want to marry you!''

You jumped up from the tree trunk you had chosen as your seat, since you weren't much for climbing trees, and asked angry: ,,_**What do you mean by that**_?!''

Kai laughed again, shifting his position on the branch: ,,Nothing; nothing at all!''

You turned away from him, checking the time before you teased him back: ,,You're just jealous that I actually got a proposal! I mean; just look at me!''

You laughed loudly when he sat up straight and yelled at you: ,,And just _**what**_ do you mean by _**that**_?!''

You waved your hand, and mocked: ,,I'm irresistible! Just admit it!''

Kai laughed loudly and told you: ,,No, I won't!''

,,Just do it already!''

,,NO!''

,,Why NOT?!''

,,Because!''  
You glared at him before yelling: ,,Because _**what**_, you stupid boy?!''

Kai didn't reply, so you went on: ,,Besides, what does it matter? He's dead, so I'll never see him again, as I would have mentioned if you would have bothered to let me finish without insulting me!''

Then you saw Yoshi and Rin staring at the two of you, holding the basket with some bark from a tree Chika had mentioned she needed. More like Aya had told you she needed it and you just went out to fetch some for her. You smiled awkwardly to the two girls: ,,Hi there!''

Rin asked in a innocent tone: ,,Were you going to get married, Yuri-chan?''

You shook your head quickly and reassured her with a smile: ,,No! Of course not! I . . . Didn't want to marry the guy, so . . .''

Yoshi asked again: ,,You said he was dead.''

You looked down so Rin wouldn't see the sadness the thought of Ritsu brought up from your heart: ,,Yes, he is. He . . . He was a friend of mine. A dear friend.''

Then you looked back up and said with a huge smile on your face: ,,But that doesn't matter, that's just the past! But I think we should be heading back Rin. It's getting late. You guys found the bark, I see?''

She smiled and nodded. You asked Rin to take the basket and you told Kai: ,,We need to leave. Lord Sesshomaru is getting a bit suspicious. He can smell you guys so easily! So, I need to take a bath every single time I get back home. And so does Rin. Anyway, bye! Nice talking to you! See you later!''

And with that you and Rin walked back home. Now Rin was more than a girl you were just babysitting, she was more like a sister to you. Or a daughter. You smiled towards her, so glad you had her in your life.

It _was_ late. A bit later then it should be. You told Rin you had to hurry up, and she nodded. You were grateful for a girl to be silent about meeting Kai and Yoshi. You told her that if she would tell Lord Sesshomaru, she would never see them again. And she probably wouldn't.

You still felt soar in your right arm. The bruises from the punishments from Lord Sesshomaru were on places you could cover up. Mostly. If they weren't, then you would lie and say that you didn't know when they came, or why. Well, no exactly lie. More like bending the truth. When you arrived to the castle you shook your head when Rin asked if you could go and wash of in the pond yet. It was a lot too cold for that, it had snowed last week. You took Rin's hand and whispered to her to be quiet, you would have to try and sneak up to your room and take a shower there. She nodded, keeping her giggles low as the two of you jumped up the stairs to the second floor. The shower was quick; you had practiced. When you were done the two of you went towards Rin's playroom, but before you were there Rin yelled as she touched your arm and ran: ,,You're it!''

You yelled after her running: ,,Soon you will be! You just wait you little . . .!''

She shrieked and laughed. You ran all around her room and finally you caught her and picked her up bride style. Then you laughed evilly and threw her on the bed. She laughed harder when you attacked her, tickling the life out of her. She yelled at you to stop and you lay down on your stomach besides her. You raised yourself up on your elbows and smiled to her. She was still giggling, and you giggled along. You didn't notice, but Lord Sesshomaru was by the door. Rin did neither, and she said: ,,It's been long since we had this much fun! You are always practicing with Miu. You have almost no time at all to be here with me! I have to play with Jaken and everything. . .''

She said it in a whiney tone, pouting along with it. You smiled to her and answered patiently: ,,Hey, don't lie! It's only two hours a day, silly. But Lord Sesshomaru wants me to practice. It's good for me too. And is it really so bad, playing with Jaken?''

She complained loudly, rolling her eyes as she said: ,,Worse! He doesn't want to play anything! It's boring. I always have to explain to him what to do in "Dolly House" . . .''

"Dolly House" was a game you and her invented. There were two friends living together, and did nothing but have fun all day long, basically.

You nodded, signaling that you understood her frustrations, but you still told her: ,,Well, maybe Jaken doesn't like playing "Dolly House". Maybe he's rather play ball or something like that. You know, boy games.''

She nodded: ,,Uh-huh, they like . . . playing ball, and run around, hide and seek, sparring, stuff like that.''

,,Maybe you can play things like that with Jaken.''

She brightened up and talked about everything she and Jaken could do the next day. You listened with one ear, you started thinking about the training. It was tough; sometimes Miu was really hard on you. But then she was nicer the next day.

Your mind traveled to the times Lord Sesshomaru had punished you. It was because you had been talking to Tako. And laughing. Having fun with someone. You grabbed your arm quickly as if you suddenly hurt yourself there. It was there where he had grabbed you and thrown you against a wall. Then he had slapped you and said that if this wouldn't stop, something worse would happen. You feared that he would hurt Tako, or someone that was innocent.

You looked back at Rin, who was still talking, and smiled as you felt a warm feeling spreading through your body. You really cared for the little girl. You suddenly felt like someone was watching and looked to the door. You blushed and sprung up. Rin looked the same way you did. She smiled and said: ,,Hi Sesshomaru-sama! I was saying Yuri-chan what me and Jaken could do tomorrow!''

You said low to Rin: ,,Telling, Rin, not saying.''

She looked at you and said: ,,Oh. Then I was _telling_ Yuri-chan what me and Jaken could do tomorrow when she would be with Miu-san!''

Lord Sesshomaru watched Rin, before nodding. Then he glared your way, or you thought so since you felt like he was suddenly turning his attention to you: ,,I have I guest tonight. You are not allowed to wander the hallways.''

You nodded and replied quickly: ,,Yes, Lord Sesshomaru.''

You glanced at his face and noticed him looking away from you and he paid his attention to Rin: ,,You will eat up here.''

Rin nodded with a wide smile and he then just walked away. You relaxed. Then you remembered; You had promised to meet up with Tako tonight.

#He will understand, won't he? He's got to, he's such a good friend.#

You and Rin spent the night alone in her room reading one of her books, or Rin was; she was getting really good at reading. When she finally fell asleep and you snuck into your own bedroom. As lucky as you are, you just had to be walking at the same time as Lord Sesshomaru and his guest were walking the hallway downstairs. Your room wasn't very far away from the stairway. You froze as you heard the deep voices of two grown up men talking. They were in a deep conversation, about something very important.

You didn't move. You knew that demons had an excellent sense of hearing and smell, so if you would move, or a small wind came through, they would notice you. Well, maybe Lord Sesshomaru knew of you already, but the other one maybe thought it was something else. You then suddenly heard echoes from their voices: ,, . . . know you will support me in invading into Lord Katsuro's land. We will have to make a better plan. After the meeting, in roughly two months. I do know that it will be a pleasure to kill that cat. He's giving us demons a bad reputation. Don't you think?''

,,I agree. He is getting bolder by the years. I can't see why his father let him have the land. His younger brother would have been the better choice.''

,,I heard that he wanted to give Katsuro more responsibility. As if that would help him get more responsible. He is just a plain imbecile. Like a child playing with fire. He will one day get burn. But I have to get back to my land. Good bye, Sesshomaru, thank you for the lovely dinner.''

There was no response and you were safe. Then the other man's voice asked: ,,But I am curious; is that a human I smell up on the second floor?''

You froze and knew this could be the end for you. Lord Sesshomaru answered: ,,A spy, if you will. It is rather handy to have someone do the dirty jobs for you. She's a shape shifter.''

,,Is that really? Then she must be talented. I could have sworn it was a human girl. But on the other hand, you would never allow a human to dwell in your home. Isn't that right?''

He didn't answer. Then the demon said goodbye and walked out. You stayed put on the hallway, waiting for lord Sesshomaru to come up and do something very unpleasant to you. As soon as you saw him coming up the darkened stairs you began shaking. When he was in front of you, you began: ,,I'm sorry, my Lord! I didn't know what else to do! I thought I was to go back to my room as soon as Rin was asleep, like always! I thought your guest was gone, I'm so sorry!''

He sharply cut you off: ,,I have told you to stop apologizing. Do you realize how much you could damage my reputation, by allowing anyone outside this building know that I house two humans.''

You waited for him to continue the lecture, but when he didn't you realized that he was actually asking you. You answered as you shook your head: ,,No, my Lord. I don't.''

Lord Sesshomaru was glaring at you for a moment. You had closed your eyes, not wanting to accidentally meet his golden ones. You tried your best to breathe as calmly as you could. The silence was stabbing you, when he suddenly changed the subject: ,,I thought I had made myself clear about your instant connection with men. Yet I have seen you with the male kitchen servant. Also, when you return from the forest, each time you reek of that half demon and his sister. Is it just that you do not listen to what I say.''

You were so afraid that you voice shook a bit: ,,I do listen to what you say, my Lord. But it's hard to make people dislike you, especially when I don't exactly know how to. And Kai's and Yoshi's scent . . . I don't know what to say, Lord Sesshomaru . . .''

Voice sharp as glass cut through the air: ,,If I will find even a hint of that half demon on you or Rin again; they will die. Do not interact with the servants as you have; I will not have Rin in a company such as theirs.''

You glanced up, freezing: ,,But, my Lord . . . !''

He walked past you before you had a chance to say anything else. You turned and watched his back get smaller, until he was gone. Did he just say that you couldn't socialize with anyone but Rin? Not sitting in the kitchen and chatting? No talking in the woods about how weird the life here was? No giggling, no talking, no sharing secrets of any sort?

The Lord was getting weirder and weirder by every week you had stayed here, but this surpassed every single rule he had made. You sighed; what could you do? He was your "lord" after all, you had to obey him.

There were two days until you birthday; almost ten weeks had past. You were so excited about the beginning of your sixteenth year. You whole life you had been waiting for that day to arrive and it was almost here. But it wasn't exactly the way you had imagined it. If you would have been with your family, and friends, they would be planning the huge birthday party which was going to last the whole night. And everyone would bring presents, both for yourself and the place would live for the rest of your life, once you were married. And in the following week guys from the village older then sixteen were allowed to propose to you, and when the week was over, you were supposed to be married, and the last night of the week, was supposed to be your wedding night. So it was supposed to take week the whole process.

But since you were living with a demon, in a castle far away from the place which was once your home and now was just dark ruins there would not be any birthday party which would last the night, no presents, no new place for you to live for the rest of your life, no guys older then sixteen would propose to you, and by the end of the week you would still be alone and no wedding night. For you, right now, life sucked.

You had done your best to not talk you Tako, or anyone, and you stopped the forest trips. Your life was like in a bubble, no social life if you don't count Rin and Miu, who were there and you were allowed to talk to them, and when you were helping in the kitchen, which surprisingly was not as often as before. You became depressed, and lonely and even sadder. You missed the stubbornness from Kai, his selfish ways of life and the joyful Yoshi and her optimism. You also missed Tako laughing with him and talking about everything and nothing . . . and Natsuko; not to be able to talk to her about your thoughts on everything as well as your secrets and problems. Sometimes at night when you thoughts were the loudest, you led the tears out and cried the horrible cry of a person who had lost the light in life.

* * *

Sorry for how long it's been, guys, but I hope you like it, anyway :)


	8. Chapter 8

*Flash Back*

But since you were living with a demon, in a castle far away from the place which was once your home and now was just dark ruins there would not be any birthday party which would last the night, no presents, no new place for you to live for the rest of your life, no guys older then sixteen would propose to you, and by the end of the week you would still be alone and no wedding night. For you, right now, life sucked.

You had done your best to not talk you Tako, or anyone, and you stopped the forest trips. Your life was like in a bubble, no social life if you don't count Rin and Miu, who were there and you were allowed to talk to them, and when you were helping in the kitchen, which surprisingly was not as often as before. You became depressed, and lonely and even sadder. You missed the stubbornness from Kai, his selfish ways of life and the joyful Yoshi and her optimism. You also missed Tako laughing with him and talking about everything and nothing . . . and Natsuko; not to be able to talk to her about your thoughts on everything as well as your secrets and problems. Sometimes at night when you thoughts were the loudest, you led the tears out and cried the horrible cry of a person who had lost the light in life.

*End of Flash Back*

* * *

You woke up. This day would be the same one as all the other ones for the last month and a half or so. The days would be pointless if it wouldn't be for Rin, and a bit for Miu. Takehiko was mad at you for not talking to him and Natsuko was sad because of it. Once you saw Kai by the forest, but he didn't come any closer than that. For the last week or two you really didn't get much sleep. You kept waking up from nightmares you didn't remember. The sleepless nights were starting show on you and you were tired all the time, whether you were running around with Rin, playing ball, playing Dolly House, reading, drawing, swimming or just talking.

Once when Rin was in the pond, you fell asleep. Rin was just splashing around and didn't notice you until you had been asleep for an hour. She went to you and was going to wake you up, but stopped. She obviously had an idea and ran somewhere. When she got back, she had a bunch of small flowers, most had yet to bloom, and made necklace and hung it on you. Then she put the last flower in your hair, and obviously happy with the work she had done.

You began to wake up; slowly. Frowning, mumbling, shaking your head while whimpering: ,,No, please . . . Okaa-san? Please . . . don't leave me . . . Ma . . . !''

Your eyes sprung open and you tried to catch your breath again. Tears were filling your eyes as it took you a moment to wake up and realize that this was only a dream. You sighed, rubbing the tears away as you mumbled: ,,Just another nightmare . . . Jeez!''

You looked up to see Rin with eyes filled with fear, staring at you. You blinked at her and excused: ,,I'm sorry! I fell asleep?! I didn't mean to, it won't happen again, I'm sorry, Rin!''

You had been trying your best to practice the art of apologizing without apologizing, but you kind of sucked at it. And you did forget it most of the time. You were relieved that lord Sesshomaru wasn't around here to hear you, or to witness that you had fallen asleep, but you failed to notice Jaken lurking around, glaring at you as he made his way quietly back to the castle.

You tried to laugh and asked Rin as you rubbed your eyes again: ,,How long was I out? I really didn't mean to fall asleep, Rin . . .''

She was still staring at you, wide-eyed: ,,Yuri-chan, do you have many nightmares?''

You stared at her, wondering if you had given anything away. Then you realized that you must have talked from your sleep, you apparently did that a lot. You then answered her: ,,No, not really. I dream a lot more than have nightmares.''

You asked her again with a small smile, just how long you had been asleep. She shrugged, not buying your change of topic: ,,But you just had one now. You were talking about your mom. Was it about your mom?''

You stared at her for a moment longer. Then you asked breathlessly: ,,How did you know, Rin?''

She told you what you had said when you woke up and you blushed as you nodded to her: ,,Yes, the dream was about my mother. It was about the day she died.''

You felt a shiver run down your spine when you remembered the dream again; the dream which didn't leave you alone. You always dream about the moment of someone's death. It wasn't always your mother; sometimes it was Ritsu or Keiko, sometimes even your father. Once it was Rin, another time it was Tako and Natsuko. But there was one dream which had imprinted itself into your memory, the one nightmare which was different than the others.

_You didn't think you would ever remember this place, since you almost had no memory of that day. But you were still sure; this was the path you had run down when your village had been destroyed. It wasn't exactly a path, it was more like someone had made a hole through the forest, trampled the grass and flowers down to the ground, broken branches and bushes, all in a straight line of which you were walking now. _

_When you suddenly stopped at the place where you had seen him first, lord Sesshomaru, and Rin with Jaken behind her, the white roses sprung up again. You were calm as you continued to head towards the darkening roses, white turning to a soft pink, getting darker and darker until you finally reached the red ones. When you saw the opening your heart began to pound faster; you anticipated whoever was waiting for you. He was waiting for you. _

_Suddenly a black stallion appeared before you neighing and prancing about you. You watched him, your body getting heavier when suddenly it was like the world shattered; the environment broke down and disappeared just as you watched the stallion prance towards the clearing surrounded by fire. You fell down, faster and faster, suddenly landing in a desert. You looked around, you were by an oasis. The beautiful stallion had followed you, prancing around you. It came closer to you and you felt a burning need to touch it. As you reached out, though, it shied away as soon as you tried. You were going to follow it, when suddenly the sun hid behind rain clouds and a hand grabbed your arm to turn you around._

_The scenery was completely changed. It was dark, damp and everything was covered in bodies and blood; a war field. You stared at everything around you, and you saw more and more people fighting. You watched young demons fall to the ground, animals attacking other demons, the elements being bent to someone's will as they fought each other. _

_,,Why are you here?!''_

_You gasped and spun around to see the person who had grabbed you arm, looking away from Kai and Yoshi fighting a couple of demons, swearing that lord Katsuro was there as well. Shock clenched your heart and your heart skipped a beat as your eyes met his golden ones. He held your gaze before he looked around, angrily slashing at enemies coming closer. His clothes were bloody, his face looked like it had been splashed with blood of another. He dragged you across the battlefield and you looked around, frantically. You needed to find someone, where?! The urge in your heart was agonizing, you were so scared. The faces in the crowd were so many, some still in shadows, others were just out of your reach. There was so much blood, so many people dead . . ._

_,,Sayuri.''_

_The whisper of his voice was so warm; so full of emotion. You looked around again; you had stopped. His hands grabbed your shoulders and pulled you closer to him. You were on top of a hill, surrounded by the fight. His eyes captured yours again and you felt your knees buckle at the feel of warmth coming from them. The way he had spoken your name was filled with so much longing, so much emotion, his eyes seemed to beg you to stay, not to leave him. You felt a smile appear on your face, in the middle of all this chaos, in the middle of all this death and confusion, and you told him calmly: ,,It's going to be alright. I won't go again.''_

_A small smile appeared on his lips and, for that small moment, it seemed genuinely warm. He spoke your name again and the emotion in that one word was so much that you found your vision blurring with tears. He pulled your even closer, one hand on your lower back and the other gently holding the back of your head, hiding his face in your hair. You heard him whisper: ,,You are mine. Remember that.''_

_A gasp and sharp pain. You glanced down between the two of you; steel. You felt darkness warping you as you heard yourself scream: ,,No!''_

_You tried to see the person responsible, only able to spot reddish-brown hair and animal ears._

That night you had sprung up in bed, breathing heavily. The clearance of the dream was terrifying, at least the later part of it. It all seemed so real. The emotions still stuck in your heart like they were really there, the faces of people you were supposed to know, though you didn't. You still felt the sword through your body, still terrified when you saw the end of it go through lord Sesshomaru as well.

Your face got slightly red when you thought about the scene between the two of you, it was hard to admit that you actually had feelings for him. You knew it was doomed and your destiny would be to die alone if you would continue to think of him that way.

But all of this happened a week ago. But every time you saw him you felt you feelings get stronger for him. Now you knew what it was you felt when you looked at him. This weird feeling almost so good it hurt.

,,Yuri-chan? Hello . . .? Hello? Yuri-chan! Talk to me!''

You snapped out of it, awkwardly. You smiled to her and giggled: ,,Sorry Rin, got a little carried away!''

,,Again?! You are always carried away Yuri-chan!''

You smiled to her and were going to answer her when a voice from the castle said: ,,Well, she obviously has something on her mind.''

You turned around quickly, jumping at the familiarity of the voice. You saw Takehiko walking towards the forest, close enough for hearing range. He was carrying a medium sized barrel, which you did not want to know what was in. He was obviously still a bit mad, and got even madder when you looked away from him and didn't say anything. He argued: ,,What is it with you?! Why can't you talk to me? It's not like it will kill you or something. Or is it maybe that you are the nanny and I'm just the kitchen boy?''

You wanted, so much, to explain that you weren't allowed to talk to him because lord Sesshomaru would kill him, but you couldn't. Instead you closed your eyes and tried to block his voice out. The hurtful words which he spat out to you, until you looked at him hurt and you mouthed: ,,Meet me by the forest at five.''

You eyed also were to meet, and he was going to say something when you said: ,,Anyway, Rin! Let's allow Takehiko to do his job, we _**don't**_ want to _**talk**_ him to death! Come on, we should get going inside so you won't catch a cold . . .''

You hoped he could hear the "don't talk" part. He did seem to and replied confused: ,,Yeah, sure. Bye, girls.''

Then he walked away after giving you a strange look. You hurried inside with Rin blabbering about what she wanted to do and how nice it was to see Tako-chan again. You felt a bit bad about not listening, but your heart was pounding; would you succeed? Cuold you at least talk to him for a moment? At least explain yourself?

You waited impatiently for the time to pass. Ten minutes beforehand you asked Rin if she wanted to go to the forest. She nodded, asking you in a low voice if she could see Yoshi and Kai this time. You shook your head: ,,I don't know. Maybe.''

She nodded, a bit sad. But the two of you walked slowly to where you asked Takehiko to meet you. When you got to a clearing you often had used to meet up with Kai and Yoshi, you sat down on a log and waited as Rin went around picking up the tiny flowers which were blooming. Soon Takehiko came. He looked back to the castle and asked: ,,What is it then? An explanation? I don't have much time . . .''

You nodded: ,,I'm sorry, Takehiko, but it's not that I'm mad at you or think of myself as better than you, but it was kind of a order . . .''

Then a thrusting sound behind you as someone walked to the spot. It was Kai and Yoshi. Kai yelled at you, but not too loud: ,,Where the heck have you been?! We haven't seen you for a month and a half!''

You shushed him, anxious and stressed, you tried again: ,,If you would be so kind to let me explain . . . Rin . . .''

Yoshi nodded jumping over to Rin: ,,I got it! Hey, Rin, I've missed you! C'mon, I want to show you something!''

Yoshi took Rin's hand, who was beaming when she had seen Kai and Yoshi come out from the trees. You bit your lip, wondering if it would be alright; would she smell of Yoshi now? Kai interrupted your thoughts, impatiently asking: ,,Well?!''

You looked down to your feet and began in a sad tone: ,,I'm sorry, I know that I'm not a very good friend to you right now, but there is a very, very good explanation for this! I just can't stand it anymore. Well, the truth is that I can't talk to anyone anymore, especially not you two, and of course Yoshi, too.''

You took a deep breath and tried to explain as well as you could: ,,Two months ago, or so, lord Sesshomaru, not literally though, told me to make people dislike me. I don't know how to do that, I tried a bit, but I failed. Then month and a half ago, he banned me to talk to anyone, and if he would catch me talking to you, Kai, or Yoshi, he . . . he would kill you. He can always smell you on us. So I wasn't allowed to the forest anymore,'' you turned to Tako and explained: ,,And he doesn't want to see me and you together, though I don't know why. I'm sorry! I really wanted to see you guys! I have missed you so much! Please forgive me!''

Tears formed in your eyes, but you wiped it away. There was silence for a while. The two demons, who had never met each other before, glanced at each other, measuring one another. Then Tako suddenly said: ,,There isn't anything to forgive. It wasn't your fault. You ignored us because you wanted to protect us. It's okay.''

Not wanting to be the smaller man, Kai added: ,,I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you unless I knew the reason for you not coming here. Really, you deserve a hug, but I don't really do those.''

You smiled to him: ,,Thanks Kai, I would be hugging you back, you know that. But lord Sesshomaru would . . . not be happy about that. But I think we have to get back now.''

Kai nodded: ,,Yeah sure. I'll get Rin. But please, try to come here every once in a while. It gets a bit lonely around here with just the rat.''

You smiled and nodded in agreement. When he was gone, there was silence between you and Tako. After a small, uncomfortable silence he said: ,,You seriously can't stay here. He will kill you in the end. Don't know if he will be the one to actually do the deed, but you will die if this continues. Just run away. You have no business here. You are still young, and have the life before you. And you aren't committed to him. Just get out of here.''

You shook your head and said: ,,He's not all bad.''

,,He is the bad guy, Sayuri. Just accept the truth.''

,,He's not _**all**_ bad. He does care for Rin even though he said he despites all humans. He allows me to dwell in his home. He hasn't killed me yet. And; I _**have **_made a commitment, of sorts. I promised him that I believed that he has a heart. I remember that now,'' you hummed a bit before you continued on track: ,,But the bottom line is; I can't leave. What about Rin? What will happen to her when I'm gone? And you and Kai and Natsuko and everyone else. I can't just go.''

He just shook his head and muttered something about you being too nice for your own good and should care for yourself more. Then Kai, Rin and Yoshi came and you took Rin's hand. You walked from the forest, and Kai and Yoshi in the opposite way and Takehiko was all alone, standing, thinking. Then, three minutes passed before he walked from the forest with an empty barrel.

* * *

*Fast Forward*

* * *

It was the evening before the 16th of May. It had been a long time since you got to lord Sesshomaru's house and just as long time since your family died. It was dark outside and the moon was almost full. You were thinking back to your childhood, a carnival. You remembered when Keiko, Yuki and you were walking around, excited to see all the people. This didn't happen often. Then you remembered a gipsy, from the travelling village, who offered to tell the three of you something of your futures. She didn't say much about Keiko and Yuki, which you now understood; it was because they wouldn't live long after this. But she told you many small things. She predicted that you would live through tragedies. You thought that just meant the death of your mother, but of course she meant so much more. But she also told you that at the night of your 16th birthday the moon would be full for almost a month afterwards.

Well, at least it would come to be kind of true. It was almost midnight, but you couldn't sleep. You lay on the banister of your balconies and stared up in the sky. The banister was big enough for that. Your right leg hung over the ledge and you felt the air around it. If you would just go a little more to the ledge, you would fall down.

The moon was bigger than usual and the stars were brighter. The night was also much more silent than usual. It was odd. Normally the night was full of sounds; crickets, owls, the wind brushing the trees, a wolf far away would howl. But it was like the world was sleeping this night. You sighed and encouraged yourself: ,,This is still a beautiful night though.''

,,It is.''

You jumped as you heard his deep voice respond to your encouragement. You sat up and watched him walk closer to you. Lord Sesshomaru stood on your balconies and looked up to the moon. You cursed your insecure tone, but continued nonetheless: ,,Lord Sesshomaru. May I ask what you are doing here?''

,,I would ask you the same thing.''

You blushed and sat on the right side of the balconies. You stuttered something about thinking about stuff. He still stared at the moon, without giving you his reason for being there. You looked at him from the corner of your eye. Of course he was gorgeous in the pale moonlight and the moon reflected in his eyes. You looked up to the moon as well and asked yourself what he might be thinking about right now. You felt this daze come over you and a sudden rush of memories washed over you and you remembered a lullaby your mother used to sing for you. Just the chorus seemed to stick in you again after all these years; just remember the demon, the demon with the moon in his eyes.

Somehow this sentence seemed perfect for this exact moment. You were still thinking about the lullaby when you noticed him staring at you. You blushed and hid you eyes behind your hair. You whispered: ,,I should go and get some sleep. It's a big day for me tomorrow, of sorts . . .''

The Lord didn't seem to care, but he still asked in his way: ,,Will it be any out of the ordinary.''

You couldn't help but smirking sadly: ,,Not really, sir, no. But I'll be my sixteenth birthday. A full grown woman as of midnight tonight. If I would be in my village, or should I say if my village existed, I would be married in about a week.

I apologize for mentioning such silly things to you, Lord Sesshomaru.''

When you said his name his hand forced your face up to face his. You blushed at the touch, your heart beating ten times faster than usual. You stared at his face, not daring to meet his eyes. He then said quietly, somehow seeming interested: ,,Talk to me about these silly things of yours. Do not apologize. I told you to stop it.''

His eyes locked yours and you saw the moon again in his eyes. You swallowed thickly before you responded in a voice you hoped sounded calm: ,,I will try my best to, my Lord.''

And with that, he let you go. You still looked in his eyes, not able to look away, and he didn't hit you or look away. Tension filled the air, and it felt so warm. Your body was on fire and you felt strong urge to touch him or for him to touch you. You had to look away. You cleared your throat with as small noise as possible and you didn't know what to say. Thankfully, he did: ,,You looked away. Why.''

You tried to find an answer, stressed out by how personal this conversation seemed to be, and so it was working really slow and finally you said: ,,I thought a servant was not allowed to look into its masters eyes.''

,,They are not. Which would mean that you can show me the respect of looking into my eyes when you speak.''

You looked up to him and said: ,,What? What do you mean? I am a servant . . .''

Lord Sesshomaru cut you off: ,,You are Rin's baby sitter. You do not clean the castle, you do not cook the food and you don't do a thing servants are supposed to do. Hence; you are not a servant.''

You felt so confused. You were not a servant? Wait, you were supposed to look him in the eye? What?! You shook your head, staring at your toes, trying to figure this out: ,,But . . . but . . .'' you looked back up at him: ,,Then why? Why do you hit me; I don't do anything wrong, do I? Am I angering you? What am I doing so wrong to make you so angry with me?''

You waited for him to answer you, because you needed an answer. Lord Sesshomaru didn't say anything at first. Then he simply said: ,,You don't need to know my reasons.''

You hesitated. That was so not an answer. You then asked: ,, Alright, my Lord. But may I be sincere?''

The silence from him you took as a yes: ,,I don't think I deserve your punishments. I don't. I don't even know what I being punished for. It's rather hard for me to avoid getting punched or kicked or slapped if I don't know what might cause me to get that sort of treatment.''

,,Follow the orders I give you.''

You sighed; it may seem simple to him, but . . .

,,The orders are . . . well, "weird". I can't say "I'm sorry" and I'm not allowed to talk to the staff here and the last time I knew I wasn't allowed to look you in the eyes. It's just . . . too hard! That is the worst social ban I have ever heard of! I'm not complaining about living here, maybe just a bit about the orders and rules you have set me. Socializing is right in the ground of all human beings, talking. I'm just a human being. I need to talk to others.

It is fine, talking to Rin but it's just not the same. You don't talk about some stuff to a child as you do around your peers.''

The lord was silent. It was like he was digesting what you had said. Then he suddenly spat out: ,,Humans are pathetic. Live with it. If I recall I also ordered you to stop doing whatever you do that makes people feel like this around you.''

You looked at him wide-eyed; what the heck were you doing wrong now?! You asked him confused: ,,What do you mean, my Lord? I'm not doing anything! I am just listening and talking. What do you mean by "feel like this"?''

All you got was a don't-be-stupid-glare and you-know-what-I-mean-look. Or so to speak. Then he said harshly: ,,I told you to stop it. Stop this, now.''

You whimpered, waiting for a hit and put your hands up in defence: ,,I'm not doing anything! I swear! Please don't hit me!''

When nothing happened you peaked through your arms. He was still there, looking at you. When you let your hands down, he began growling: ,,Stop this glint in your eyes, it angers me. If you will not stop it, I might end up killing you to be rid of it.''

Your eyes widened at his statement and tears blurred your vision: ,,Oh no, please, don't . . . !''

But nothing happened, again. You looked back up at him; he just looked again to the moon. Then he answered you: ,,This is the answer for your question earlier. Those luminous eyes of yours make me want to hurt you; because, you make me feel like this.''

You whispered carefully, unsure if what you would say would anger him again: ,,What do you mean by feeling like this? I don't know what I'm doing to you; I don't want to harm you in any way. I . . .'' you stopped before you'd say too much. You blushed and continued: ,,I don't know what I can do to make this stop. I am trying, I swear. It's just . . . I don't know, my Lord, what it is I should be stopping. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?''

He still didn't answer. You were surprised how often he did that. Or it just took him time to find the right words. When he didn't say anything, whether it was because he didn't find the right words or he didn't want to answer it, you wondered if you should just change the subject.

,,Lord Sesshomaru? Would you still like for me to talk to you about silly things?''

A small humming sound came from his lips, and you smiled and looked to the night to continue: ,,Well, tomorrow is my birthday. So, I'll be sixteen, which is a big age in my village. Or it was. That is when a girl is a full grown woman, and a boy is a full grown man. And so girls can get proposals. The guys have a about a week to propose to the girl, but if the dad doesn't want any of them, and not the girl either, they will wait for the guy they both like. In my case, I would control it all myself, my dad would have been too drunk,'' you counted the stars, wondering how many you knew, but you added to your speech in a thoughtful tone: ,, And it probably would have been Ritsu. He proposed to me four months ago. I guess he really did like me, or love me, I don't know. I didn't really want to get married to him, he was just my friend. But when I look at it now I see that it would have been the right thing to do.''

You wondered for a moment why it was so warm outside; you were barely shivering. You did make a comment on that, just a low one. But you continued with your thoughts: ,,But since it is a birthday, I and most of the women in the village would have been preparing a party that could last the whole night! It would all have been singing and dancing until the sun would come up! People would have gotten me gifts both for me and the house I would live in with my future husband. And then, when the party would be over, I would have to stay at home the whole week, looking through the entire proposals, and finding the one I would like. And then as fast as I could I would let the guy know and I would plan another party, a wedding party. It would be on the seventh day after my birthday, and I would be married at noon, when the sun is the highest. The party would be until late next day, but my husband and I would leave at ten. And then my wedding night would begin. It's a tradition that the mother of the girl and the father of the boy would come in the next morning at check if it "all went well". But I don't know how it would have gone in my case.''

You glanced at the lord, who had been glancing at you from time to time. You explained: ,,My mother died when I was ten. She was giving birth to a baby boy who also died.''

You looked back out to the forest in front of you, watching the tree's sway. You pulled your knees up to your chin and continued: ,,But anyway, the birthday party, and my wedding won't be happening any time soon. Most likely never. But that's just how life is. It's not fair and it can hop between being the worst and being the best. Who knows, maybe my entire happy like and easy years are over. That my life will be like this for the rest.

I hope not. I do hope that I will meet the love of my life, someday. And that I will have kids I actually own myself. A house to take care of. A swing in the garden where the kids can play, and a little bird house.''

You smiled, blushing a bit as you realized you had maybe spoken a bit too freely. You excused: ,,Now you probably know about everything I want in life. Maybe not all, but most of it.. I hope I haven't bored you with my talk.''

You glanced at lord Sesshomaru, just to check if he was still there. He was. He was watching you and you blushed harder, looking at the moon, as to have something else to concentrate on. You blinked and asked out of the blue: ,,Have you ever thought about what the moon was? Why it's there?''

You were kind of glad when he looked away from you and to the moon. He answered you simply: ,,No.''

You smiled brighter: ,,Well, I have. Someone might have some really long and confusing description about it, but I don't care about that,'' you looked back up to it, sighing: ,,For me the moon is the light in the dark. It brings hope into the night. That is one of the reasons I think it's so beautiful. I can't get enough of watching it, in all of its glory.

You know, when I was little, a gipsy told me that the moon was supposed to be full for a month after my birthday. I don't know if it's true or not. I guess that I'll just have to see.

My mom used to sing me lullabies when I was little. One was about a demon. I can't remember all of it, I just remembered it tonight. About a demon with the moon in his eyes. It was my favourite.''

You glanced back to the lord. He did still seem to be listening, watching everything around the house, but still listening. You continued: ,,When I think about it I had much interest in demons. That was before mom died. I always wanted to know more about them. Why they were the way they were. What did they look like? Had she ever met one? She said that she had seen one, when she was ten. She was going to run away from home, but in the woods she saw a demon. She got scared and ran back home.

Even though everyone said that I should be afraid, they were just wile creatures, I didn't believe that though. I have broken many rules which are about demons. I was not supposed to even talk to one. But I didn't, and I always wanted to know what happens if you talk to one.''

You smiled, shyly, blushing a bit as you said, gratefully: ,,And now I have. I even live in his home. Never in my wildest dreams imagined that I would live in a home of a demon. I can say that I'm pretty lucky. Maybe I haven't used all of my luck after all. My life could be described as the night. When the darkness seems to be everywhere, the moon is there to guide me.''

You giggled: ,,Silly, isn't it? Here am I rambling about some things when I should be sleeping. And I'm keeping you awake. What a servant I am.''

You stood up and smiled a bit. Lord Sesshomaru walked back in and you after him and closed the door. When you had done that, he was already by the door to the hallway. You bowed your head and said: ,,Good night Lord Sesshomaru, and thank you for . . . well, for everything. I am very grateful to you. I can do some work in the kitchen tomorrow and maybe help Natsuko with the laundry . . .''

He cut you off again: ,,No. I have told you; you are a sitter. That is enough. You are not a servant. Remember that.''

With that he closed the door behind him and you stood there surprised and confused.


	9. Chapter 9

*Flash back*

You giggled: ,,Silly, isn't it? Here am I rambling about some things when I should be sleeping. And I'm keeping you awake. What a servant I am.''

You stood up and smiled a bit. Lord Sesshomaru walked back in and you after him and closed the door. When you had done that, he was already by the door to the hallway. You bowed your head and said: ,,Good night Lord Sesshomaru, and thank you for . . . well, for everything. I am very grateful to you. I can do some work in the kitchen tomorrow and maybe help Natsuko with the laundry . . .''

He cut you off again: ,,No. I have told you; you are a sitter. That is enough. You are not a servant. Remember that.''

With that he closed the door behind him and you stood there surprised and confused.

*End of Flash Back*

* * *

Your eyes sprung open as you realized that you had overslept. It was almost eleven o'clock and you jumped up and got something to wear and ran to Rin's room thinking something had happened. When she wasn't in either of her rooms you went downstairs, to the kitchen, getting scared of where she could be. You took a deep breath of relief when you saw her there she was with Tako and the rest of the guys. She smiled happily to you and yelled: ,,Happy birthday, Yuri-chan!''

You breathed slower now, and smiled back to the little girl who came your way, hugging your waist: ,,I thought you wanted to sleep a little bit longer since it is your birthday, and me and Tako-chan and the others made a little cake for you! It's nothing big, but it's not small either, we used as little as we could and it was actually a lot. We don't often make cakes here, so . . .!''

You smiled and the others walked slowly to you. Natsuko hugged you and whished you a happy birthday and whispered: ,,Takehiko told us everything. We are so sorry!''

You whispered back that you should be the one apologizing and so on. Finally Masaru, Yuuki and Tako said: ,,You two brake it up or get a room! It's our turn now to congratulate her!''

You and Natsuko smiled and you got hugs from everyone there. You ate the cake, which wasn't all that small, and laughed as silently as you could. Aya had multiplied and was making her copies make the lunch. You ask her how many copies she could make.

,,Well, the most I have made are fifteen, but then they could barely stand, so my average is from five to ten. They are stronger as they are fewer. And I can keep them going for a longer time. They really take some energy, seriously!''

Tako shot in quickly and snarky: ,,I can't see the problem in you running out of energy, how peaceful it would be!''

You laughed and Aya blushed a bit, though she laughed along. You only had an half an hour so this dear time was soon over, and you all had to return to your duties. You and Rin left the kitchen, Tako was cutting and slicing some food, Natsuko went back to clean the mansion, Aya was washing things up, cooking, grilling, cleaning, putting things back where they belonged, Masaru went to his shed in the back of the kitchen, and Yuuki went to the garden and was doing some gardening.

Soon after that, it was time for lunch, and you noticed that your normal lunch was smaller than usual and you thanked Aya for thinking that you would still be pretty full from the cake. Lord Sesshomaru wasn't there for lunch. You wondered where he was, but Jaken just muttered something about that he was away, and then he yelled: ,,It is none of your business! Go back to take care of the child!''

You asked calmly back, knowing that Rin would be very worried. Also, you were maybe just a bit worried, especially after your talk last night: ,,Please Jaken-sama, can you at least give me some idea? This is the second time he has gone somewhere without any warning. Rin is scared that he won't come back. That is the only reason I want to know where he is.''

He was not about to crack, but he shook his head and said: ,,You cannot know why he's not here or where he is,'' he grumbled before he snapped at you, still looking unsure if he should tell you this or not: ,,But my Lord told me to warn you about not going near the west tower. It could cost you . . . something valuable. Now go back to the child!''

You thanked him with a bow, which he obviously appreciated, and you went back to Rin's room. Wondering if you should show Jaken more respect, so he would maybe be easier to deal with. You also thought of why you were not allowed to the west tower, and why you could lose something valuable. What could you lose? You finally just shrugged and stopped thinking about that; you wanted to see Yoshi and Kai since lord Sesshomaru wasn't here. So you and Rin walked to the wood, and after five minutes' walk in to it, you called out for Kai and Yoshi. They came in a heartbeat and congratulated you. You thanked them and said that Lord Sesshomaru wasn't in the castle at the time, so you could actually come and talk to them for a week. But maybe not too often and too long, so you wouldn't make Jaken suspicious. They were glad to hear that and you talked for a long time. You allowed Rin to tell them from the cake she made for you and stuff. Then Yoshi asked: ,,So, we can like, come closer to you and touch you and stuff since he isn't here?''

You thought about it. It would be nice since Jaken wouldn't go asking many questions about why you were taking a cat wash in the pond. You nodded and Yoshi jumped to you and hugged you real tight and whished you a happy birthday. Kai still sat on his rock, with folded arms and closed eyes. Yoshi hit him in the back of the head and yelled: ,,Hug her, you stupid brother! It's a normal politeness!''

He snapped at her, flushing with anger: ,,Back off, Yoshi!''

She yelled at him back, irritated by his indifference: ,,Hug her then!''

,,No!''

,,Why not?!''

,,Because!''

,,You are so impolite!''

,,Am not!''

,,Are too! You are acting like a jerk! Just hug her and get it over with!''

,,No!''

Yoshi then turned away and said mockingly: ,,Just like I suspected! You are too shy and scared to hug her!''

He got even angrier and yelled. ,,Am not!''

Yoshi yelled back: ,,Then proof it!''

,,Fine!''

He stomped to the rather awkward you and pulled you to him, then hugged you tight. You were too shocked to hug him back at first, but then you slowly put your arm around him and he muttered: ,,Happy birthday, then.''

You felt so small in his arms. Then you let each other go and you knew you were blushing slightly, but so was Kai. He then turned around after he got over it and yelled: ,,See!''

Yoshi was smirking and laughed loudly: ,,You are just as stupid as the last time I checked! You fell right into my trap!''

Kai stared at her, not really understanding what she was talking about: ,,What?''

She was trying to explain it to him and he just got angrier by the minute, telling her that of course he knew what she was trying to do, though Yoshi laughed and told him that it was no way that he had, and so on. Rin was laughing at them, no wonder. Yoshi, the small little girl with the bright orange hair, was happily talking in the same tone about all her thoughts and her plan, while Kai, with the fiery red hair, was yelling and almost spitting fire at her. You just watched them and felt truly disappointed by them. When you felt like they had yelled enough, or for about ten minutes, you had enough: ,,Would you two shut up?!''

And no the only thing that you could hear was a cricket. You smiled happily: ,,Good, now, let's talk about something else. Like, where do you two live here?''

Yoshi and Kai looked at each other and said: ,,There's a village here nearby . . .''

,,So you live in the village, right?''

Kai said sarcastically: ,,No, under it.''

You answered in the same sarcastic tone he used: ,,Oh, not above it?''

Yoshi whispered to Rin, loud enough for you and Kai to hear while glaring at each other: ,,They are like a couple, don't you think Rin?''

Now both you and Kai were yelling at snickering Yoshi. Then Rin stated: ,,Nah, I think Yuri-chan and Lord Sesshomaru like each other more.''

Rin was smiling as you were staring at her. Kai was staring at you and Yoshi thinking about the possibility. You rolled your eyes and giggled: ,,Why would you _ever_ think that Rin?''

She smiled brighter and said: ,,Because, last night when I couldn't sleep, I was going to your room, it was really late, and I saw Sesshomaru-sama go into your room. And I didn't want to make Sesshomaru-sama feel irritated, like Jaken says he gets when I do stuff, and went back to my room.''

You blushed like mad and Kai yelled: ,,_**He was in your room**_?!''

You could almost feel yourself get smaller and finally disappear, as much as you wanted it, but it wasn't going to happen. You yelled back at Kai: ,,Yeah! He was! Why would you care? It's not like I'm doing something with him, or anything! How can you even imagine things like that?!''

He backed away few centimeters, but then yelled back: ,,I'm not imagining anything! But you are clearly giving the wrong impression here! What the hell was he doing in your room?!''

You sighed in your mind, feeling the need to defend yourself, and you thought; here comes just another screaming match!

,,None of you business!''

,,It is!''

,,Since when?! When did you become my guardian or whatever?!''

,,Never!''

,,Exactly! So back off!''

,,Answer the damn question, Sayuri!''

Your voice pitched up a few octaves and you asked him: ,,What question?!'' even though you knew very well what he was talking about.

,,What was he doing in your room, stupid?!''

,,You don't have to know!''

,,Answer it!''

,,Or else what? You gonna kill me? Hurt me?''

When you saw his wicked smile, you knew he was going to do something terrible to you. You asked with a shaky voice: ,,Kai, what are you gonna do? Kai . . .?'' he got closer: ,,Kai, what are you . . .? No, Kai! Get back! I swear I'll kill you if you touch me . . . !''

His smirk got even wider and you backed away. Suddenly he was holding you and carrying you away from Rin and Yoshi. Yoshi shook her head and yelled after you: ,,Just be quick, will ya? Oi, Kai!''

He was carrying you on his shoulder, and with Yoshi's salute you freaked out: ,,What are you going to do to me, Kai?! Letmego!''

He just snickered and kept walking. He came to a mud puddle, or a pit you could call it, and he said evilly: ,,Tell me, Sayuri, or your head will go down to that pit over there. Last time I did it to Yoshi; she had to cut her hair to get all the dirt from it. This pit is called Lady Pit. Do you want to know why?'' you shook your head, but he still told you: ,,About 100 years ago, a man who really liked women, could we say, raped them and then he cut them to pieces and threw them down there. People are still finding some skulls or arms from there. And of course animals have many times got stuck there and died.''

He glanced at you and asked: ,,Do you really want your long, silky black hair have to be cut as short as Yoshi's?''

Your face was so pale that even your lips were white. Your hair was one of the things you valued the most about yourself. You had always had long hair. To have it as short as Yoshi's? You saw the short haired girl in front of you and felt terror arise. You said: ,,You wouldn't dare, Kai!''

,,Wanna bet?''

He again grabbed your legs, and let you hang from the ledge. It was maybe a meter down there and he said: ,,I can hold you for a pretty long time Sayuri, you are as light as a feather to me . . .''

From the fear of losing your hair you quickly got mad and yelled to him, with as much pride you had, hanging upside down and holding the kimono up: ,,So now you are calling me fat?!''

,,Don't try to change the subject! What was he doing in your room?!''

You said that you didn't think he would dare to make you go lower. As soon as the last word had escaped your lips he lowered you. The ends of your hair were inch away from the almost black mud and you shrieked: ,,Are you out of your mind?! KAI, STOP IT!''

He yelled back the same question and you the same answer. He lowered you just enough so the end of your hair was down in the pit. You shrieked even higher and you yelled back to him: ,,I DON'T KNOW! HE DIDN'T WANT TO TELL ME!''

Then he pulled you back up and you sniffed at the sight of your hair. He shrugged and asked: ,,How long was he inside?''

,,I don't know, maybe one hour? And a half? I don't know, he just was there, all of a sudden.''

,,WHAT?!''

,,We were talking!''

,,Yeah right!''

,,We were! He wanted . . . no I can't say it.''

,,Spill or you go lower next time.''

,,FINE! But you can't tell anybody this! Promise?''

,,Yeah, yeah, get on with it!''

,,Pinky-promise, Kai?''

You held out your pinky and he shook it with his as he sighed: ,,Promise, okay?''

You then sighed, and tried to tell him what you thought lord Sesshomaru was doing in your room: ,,I . . . He wanted . . . He just told me to . . . no, I was talking about what day it would be today, because he wanted to know why I was up so late, and I told him about today, and I apologized to be talking about such things to him, but he said just . . . talktomeabouthesethings and I just did as he told me to do and then went to sleep. After he left.''

Kai raised an eyebrow at your statement: ,,What was the really long word you blurted out?''

You acted oblivious: ,,What word? I spoke many words, ya know . . .?''

He gave you a long look: ,,Sayuri, think about your hair.''

You looked down in defeat and said quietly: ,,Talk to me about these things. That's what he said. That's all.''

He saw that that was your final word and he stood slowly up. Then he spoke softly. ,,Nothing happened?''

,,No.''

,,He didn't hit you?''

,, . . . No.''

,,Did he try to hit you? Was he going to hit you?''

,, . . . Yes. Well no. He just told me why he wanted to, but he didn't do it.''

,,Why was he going to hit you and why didn't he?''

You shook your head, remembering the lords words, thinking of them as too intimate to share: ,,You don't have to know.''

Kai stared at you for a moment, before he nodded: ,,Fine. Let's go back.''

,,What about my hair?'' you said checking it. He said annoyed: ,,Come here, I'll cut of the ends for you . . .''

You turned your back to him as he took up his knife and one after another, he took maybe five centimeters from your hair. You looked at the ground and saw your black hair there and you felt grief for a moment, but it disappeared in a split of a second. You glanced back at Kai with wide eyes. Then you blushed, remembering when he hugged you. Then when you felt him let your hair go you around and thanked him. He smiled sweetly and said: ,,Not a problem. I just fixed what I broke.''

At that moment, boldness took over you. You hugged him quickly and kissed his cheek. He blushed and blinked for a second. You smiled and winked at him: ,,For being a good friend.''

He was still blushing when you turned around and started to walk back to Yoshi and Rin. But before you knew it Kai had grabbed you and pulled you back to him. Again he hugged you. You gasped. His muscular body trembled a bit and you were shaking like a bird in a cage. Then he said: ,,For how long have I known you, Sayuri? Four months? And for how long have we been friends? Three? Three and half? And this is the first, or second, time I have hugged you. Why is that, can you tell me, Sayuri? It's because of that idiot in that mansion.''

You mumbled from his chest: ,,Don't call him an idiot, Kai . . .''

,,He is an idiot. He's cold, evil, and cruel. An idiot and a maniac. You shouldn't be there. You can just come with me. And that little brat, my sister.''

,,She's not a brat, Kai . . .''

He hugged you tighter now and whispered: ,,Why do you always say my name that way? You are so young, so fragile, and so innocent. So beautiful.''

You whispered a bit scared, or shocked: ,,Kai . . .''

,,Sayuri, please don't say my name like that. You make me want to . . .''

Before you knew it his hug broke and his purple eyes looked into yours, his breath shaking, his hands holding your arms gently. You looked him at him back, wondering what was going on. Then suddenly his lips came crashing into yours. You forgot to breathe. You eyes widened and you froze.

You wondered; is this how it's supposed to feel?

Then you broke loose and ran away. Kai was a while to discover what he did, and he yelled after you. You didn't respond. When you saw Rin and Yoshi, you grabbed Rin without any explanation and ran towards the mansion. You heard him coming, Rin yelling why you were running, and out of the forest. When you finally got to the door you looked over your shoulder and saw Kai in the edge of the forest. You went inside, unsure of what to do, say or think.

The shock of his kiss was . . . unimaginable. You weren't hurt, or angered, just shocked. You had always thought of him as your friend. Just like Ritsu. What was it about guys and falling in love with you? Except the guy you actually wanted to fall in love with you. Rin was almost yelling at you, but not too loud for Jaken to hear you and wanting to find out who was making this entire racket. You shushed her and said that you would tell her later, right now, you would have to clean up.

Rin talked and talked about what she and Yoshi had been doing, and then she asked and asked what Kai did to you and why you ran away. You couldn't answer that. You didn't want to answer that. And you didn't. Somehow you managed to just shrug it off and wink at her: ,,That's a secret! But it was awful, I tell you! He had to cut off some of my hair!''

This day was just gonna get weirder by the hour. You washed yourself carefully, and you also asked Rin to do the same to herself. Afterwards, it was time to meet with Miu, which had wanted to have the practice at three.

,,Think of it as a small birthday present,, she said and smirked. You smiled back, and hoped that she would someday smile, a real smile that is, which didn't involve any sarcasm, hitting, kicking, or any of the sort.

This was no exception from any other practice, just practicing kicks, and hits, self-defense, how to hold a bow, a kantana, swords, daggers. She was just beginning to show you how to use weapons now. Then when she didn't feel like making you learn something new, she made you do push-up's and thing's like that. But this time you just hit a dummy, cut another dummies head of, sliced another, threw daggers at two, kicked and hit the rest.

"Arms" and "Heads" were flying in the air as did "Legs" and sometimes a hole "Body". When the dummies were all around the area, she yelled: ,,Bravo! Now, I have to tell, you are just getting better at this. Of course you could have millions of times been dead if you would be fighting a demon, but for a human it was pretty good. Now, you have to move faster . . .''

And so on. The two small hours you had were soon over and she would send you back inside. Then you were exhausted, and just sat down in your big nice room, which had the cursed balconies open. And just as you were settling down and almost asleep, the doors burst open. Rin came in with Tako and Natsuko. You jumped up rubbing your eyes: ,,Why you coming here in? Please, knock . . .''

Rin was yelling at them that after practices you needed a little brake. Natsuko was yelling at Tako for actually busting into you room, and Tako was yelling at Natsuko for yelling at him and something else which you weren't sure about. They yelled louder, so you screamed at them: ,,Will you three stop yelling! I've got a headache!''

And the room was silent. You rubbed your temples and sighted happily of the nice quietness. Then before you could ask why they were there, they started again. But now yelling excuses, questions, statements, and such. Again you yelled at them to be quiet.

,,What it wrong with you?! Can't you just talk? Please! Why are you guys here?!''

And they talked all at the same time. You decided you didn't want to know and lay down and closed your eyes trying to block out the noise. Then suddenly someone jumped in the bed and was talking to your ear, and another was pulling you hand, and the last one, probably Natsuko, was poking your waist. You groaned loudly and yelled at them: ,,What?! I seriously can't understand what you are all saying; you are all talking at once! Just, Tako, you start, and then I'll listen okay?!''

The two girls stopped and Tako still continued: ,,What were you thinking?! You just went there and you were alone with him for how long?!''

You blankly stared at him and the only thing you could say was: ,, . . . Huh?''

Then he exploded: ,,You and Kai you idiot! You stupid idiot! Do you want to die?! He'll kill you! You would be dead if he was here!''

You looked away for a second, mad and yelled at him: ,,What are you talking about, you fool?!''

,,You getting killed if the Lord would find out that you and Kai, the half demon he hates were alone in the forest you dumb, innocent human!''

,,_Don't you call me a human, you lousy demon! Who do you think you are?! And why are you concerned about if a __**human**__ dies, anyway_?!''

,,Because you are my best friend, you _**human**_ _idiot_!''

You forgot all words, all courtesy: ,,Shut the . . . Takehiko, I want you to get out of my room, and not to speak to me again unless you stop calling me a human. Do you understand?''

His face was pale with anger, and so was yours. The rage in your eyes was so much even Tako was a bit shocked. He still told you: ,,You are so dumb! I'm trying to protect you and you just yell at me for trying.''

He was obviously hurt. Yet the rage inside you had not cooled so you said: ,,What are you protecting me from? Did I ask for your protection? No. What is it I need this serious protection from? Can you tell me?''

Silence. He was trying to find the words to describe it. Then he said angrily: ,,You are so innocent. You can't see all the dangers here. Anywhere. You are blind; you don't see the evil in others. You don't see the dark sides of life. That is what you need protection from.''

You growled: ,,You are the one who's stupid. You can't protect me from anyone. I know what danger is. I know the dark sides of life. I maybe haven't seen them, but I know them. I don't want protection from you! And now I want you to get out. I don't want to talk to you or even see you, thank you! Not until you shut up and cool down. It's my life, not yours.''

He was speechless. He then jumped of the bed and stomped out. You pointed at Natsuko: ,,And you?''

She was blushing and stammering and said almost whispering: ,,I'm sorry! I tried to stop him, telling him not to walk into your room because you were resting, and getting ready to go back to Rin, and . . .''

You sighed, accepting that she was just apologizing: ,,It's okay Natsuko. Just, go back to work, it's okay, really.''

She stood up and walked silently out. Then you turned to Rin and asked: ,,And you Rin? What were you talking or yelling about?''

She was a bit scared, and teary eyed: ,,I told Tako-chan that we went to the forest and met Kai and I told him what we were doing and what we were talking about, and when you and Kai went somewhere. And then he got mad, and yelled at Natsuko about where you were and something . . .''

,,Well, why did you tell him in the first place we went to the forest?''

,,Ummmh . . . I dunno . . .''

She was blushing now, and didn't look at you. You finally said: ,,You can't tell anyone when we go to the forest. Okay, Rin? No one. It's our secret.''

She murmured something like yes, and you asked her if you could get an half an hour rest. She nodded and walked to the door. Just as she was walking through it, she asked: ,,Are you and Tako-chan not friends anymore?''

You thought about it. Then you simply stated that you didn't know. Then she left. You finally got the rest you wanted.

You felt just like normal, there was only this small tingling feeling knowing you were now 16. You felt sad about Takehiko being such a jerk and feeling upset about Kai. The day was quick to pass, and Rin did everything to make the day as good as she could. It was a fun day. The whole week was. It was finally the last day of the ,,birthday week,, and you were anxious for it to end. Just so you could forget all the things that had happened.

You hadn't talked to Tako the whole week. You didn't go to the forest either. You avoided every man as much as possible. It was rather terrifying; avoiding men. You just needed some time to get things together. As soon as you would everything would be back to normal. Yet, on that last day it was like everything went in the opposite direction.

Miu said that there wouldn't be practice that day. Rin was coughing, which was a secure sign that she might be catching a cold. This meant no trips to the forest any time soon. Sesshomaru would be coming back soon, probably the next day, or late this evening. And just to top it all, Tako just had to talk to you. You were walking through one of the long halls of the castle and looking at all the paintings and portraits when he suddenly appeared behind you. When you noticed him you asked, still a bit irritated: ,,What do you want?''

He glared at you, saying: ,,You to apologize.''

You stopped the walking which you had continued and turned to him, furious again: ,,What?! For what, may I ask?! It was you who started all of this!''

,,No, I didn't!''

,,Yes, you did! I don't need you to protect me, I don't need you to tell me I'm _**human**_, I don't need you to tell me what the dark sides of life are! Just get of my case, would ya?!''

,,You don't have a case! You are so vulnerable against the cruel world, that you can barely live out there! If you wouldn't have someone to protect you, you would be dead! You are just human . . .''

,,Stop telling me what I can and what I can't do! I should know myself! And _**stop**_always saying the same thing; I _**know**_ I'm human and not a mighty demon that can kill everything and everyone! I am _**aware of it**_! Should I always be telling you that you are just a low-class demon? Oh, you are here in this place because you are a low-class demon; you are working in a kitchen because you are a low-class demon! Now, go away, or apologize!''

He was just as angry as you and yelled: ,,I have nothing to apologize about! I'm just telling the truth, which you obviously can't handle!''

You were speechless for a moment, but then you said angrily: ,,Fine then! I'll just not handle it alone, away from you! Good bye, Takehiko.''

With that you stormed away and left Tako in the hallway alone, in a furious mood, not understanding a woman's mind.

When you had walked far enough from him you talked to yourself in an angered tone, about how stupid Tako was and why he was such a jerk and so on. Then you noticed you were pretty much lost. You yelled: ,,Great! It's just a typical day for me! I'm an idiot! I get lost when I storm away from a fight?! How many losers don't do that?! I'm such a loser! Well, fine, then! I'll just have to find a way back . . .!''

With that you walked the hallways and checked all doors. When you began cooling off, you felt like a princess in the fairytales, exploring mansions and big places. Most of the doors were locked, and some full of something you didn't want to know what was. Then you finally rambled to a door, which led to a staircase.

,,Wow. A stair case. Upstairs . . . Shall I go up stairs? I shall go up stairs!''

You happily jumped up the stair, and surprisingly, there was a door. You once again talked out loud: ,,A door. Interesting. Wonder what's there. Should I look?''

You took the door knob and turned it slowly. The door cracked, and a loud creaking sound came from it, but it still opened. You stuck your head in. It was dark, and you whispered a bit paranoid: ,,Hello? Is anyone there?''

You opened the door completely, so the light from the windows from the staircase lit up some of the room. You walked in nervously: ,,I shouldn't be here . . . Why did I ever get lost in the first place . . . I should just have stayed with Rin! I just had to go and take a walk.''

You stopped. Didn't you just hear something? It was like . . .

#Nah, just the wind or something.#

You walked further inside, when suddenly someone pushed you against a wall, heavy moans following the person. You gave out a yell in shock form this sudden attack and tried to fight it off. Put this person was far stronger then you. You stopped for a moment; this smell, it was familiar.

The thought of that leaked in to your head, and disappeared soon, when you felt a warm body of a man leaning tightly against yours. You whispered scared: ,,Who are you?''

The voice answered, heavy and slow, almost unrecognizable, like the person was trying to maintain itself, or suffering from something: ,,You shouldn't have come here . . .''

You felt your body react to the voice. You voice shook as you asked: ,,Is it really you?''

* * *

Drum roll! Just kidding.  
Still hope you guys like it. The next chapter will be the "adult type" so... I'm a bit nervous about that part, since I've heard that the board here has been closing down on people if they have too much adult content or something... So please don't be too alarmed if everything shuts down on me, _**again**_...

Hope not. :/

But you guys have fun, though! :)


	10. Chapter 10

Why me? Chapter 10

* * *

WARNING;  
This chapter contains sexual content. So please, if you don't want to read it, just skip it, there will be a flashback in the following chapter containing . . . well, a flashback with a no sexy vibe :)

Enjoy!

* * *

*Flash Back*

You opened the door completely, so the light from the windows from the staircase lit up some of the room. You walked in nervously: ,,I shouldn't be here . . . Why did I ever get lost in the first place . . . I should just have stayed with Rin! I just had to go and take a walk.''

You stopped. Didn't you just hear something? It was like . . .

#Nah, just the wind or something.#

You walked further inside, when suddenly someone pushed you against a wall, heavy moans following the person. You gave out a yell in shock form this sudden attack and tried to fight it off. Put this person was far stronger then you. You stopped for a moment; this smell, it was familiar.

The thought of that leaked in to your head, and disappeared soon, when you felt a warm body of a man leaning tightly against yours. You whispered scared: ,,Who are you?''

The voice answered, heavy and slow, almost unrecognizable, like the person was trying to maintain itself, or suffering from something: ,,You shouldn't have come here . . .''

You felt your body react to the voice. You voice shook as you asked: ,,Is it really you?''

*End of Flash Back*

* * *

There was no mistake. It was him. The low, cold voice told you that there was something wrong with him, and you began to worry: ,,My Lord, what's wrong? Are you hurt? Why are you here? Can I help . . . ?''

You were still pined up to the wall with his warm, almost burning, body crushing up against yours. It was like he was trying to get even closer to you than possible. Lord Sesshomaru growled at your words and hissed: ,,You stupid girl, don't you understand what is going on?! Why are you here . . .?!''

You trembled at the ferocity in his words, and you explained to him in a shaky voice: ,,I got lost, my Lord,'' then you added in a worried tone, really not understanding what was going on: ,,Are you ill?''

Your eyes were starting to get used to the darkness in this chamber so you saw Sesshomaru, as clearly as you could. You saw that he smirked just a tiny bit. But it was a bitter smirk. Then you noticed that he wasn't wearing his upper-kimono. His rock-hard chest was damp from sweat and he breathed heavily. He started to moan again. You heard his claws by the wall, scratching the stones. You wondered if he was in so much pain, or if he was this angry. He then murmured: ,,You just couldn't stay away from this tower, just one more day.''

You remembered Jaken's words about staying away from the west tower. You asked him, voice squeaky from nervousness of not following his order: ,,Is this the west tower? I didn't know . . . !''

Now he was shaking and he forced himself away from you. You stared at him in a wide-eyed surprise: ,,Lord Sesshomaru?''

His body jumped, but he said calmly, though you could hear the strain in his voice: ,,What is it?''

You walked closer to him: ,,Are you alright . . . ?''

He glared at you before he moved away from you again, to the curtains. Suddenly the room was bright; he had torn down a curtain and you were able to take a look around the room. The walls had somewhere holes in them, no furniture, except a huge bed, which was stuck to the wall and floor. A dismayed and surprised you said: ,,Oh-dear.''

The walls made of stones, cold and grey. The covers were red and the bed did seem strong. Then suddenly, Sesshomaru was by you again. You looked away from the bed, puzzled. He then pushed you towards the bed. You fell onto it and gasped as you saw him standing over you. He was panting and beads of sweat were prickling down the side of his face.

You began panicking. You wanted out of the heavy air in this room, it was so thick and you felt it was hard to breath. You started to take shorter breaths, nerves, the thick air and the tension in the room was a bad combination. You licked your lips as you felt them dry, drawing another sharp breath, lying on the bed. You watched as lord Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed, his pupils dilating. Then it was like he couldn't take it anymore. You gasped when you heard him growl, whimpering when he pushed you further up on the bed, crawling over you, gasping and growling. You saw him shake, looking into your eyes, then he suddenly plunged down with his eyes fixed on your lips. When his lips had crashed into yours, you felt as if the world had exploded. Was this really happening?

Lord Sesshomaru deepened the kiss; you felt his hands touch you slightly. You had been waiting for this. When you felt him untie your kimono you realized what was going to happen.

You gasped when he pulled away for a moment; no! You felt him member by your abdomen; hard, pulsing. This was certainly a "wedding night without a wedding". The worst part was; you didn't want him to stop. This was dangerous, you should allow it; it was important to keep your virginity safe for as long as you were unmarried.

A moan slipped out from your lips as Sesshomaru's tongue graced your lower lip. Your body began to heat up as his tongue massaged yours, explored your mouth. When he ripped open your kimono the only thing you could think of was; you were never going to marry and you didn't care.

You heard him moan, he pulled away from your mouth and his mouth traveled south, hands squeezing your breasts, going lower as his mouth took over from his fingers, sucking and nibbling your nipples. You moaned loudly, surprised by the pleasure; you had never heard of pleasure coming from doing . . . _**This**_.

You heard him sniff as he went lower, murmuring: ,,So young, so fresh. Clean, untouched . . .''

He nibbled on your stomach, pulling your pants down, throwing them away. Your felt as if your heart was down there, pulsing, warming, yearning. Sesshomaru's hands traveled down to your hips, scratching you lightly. You shook. His tongued dipped down to your belly button making you shudder harder, then he went even lower. He licked his way lower and he finally reached _**that place**_. When his tongue teased you by licking the area around it you could not help but moan: ,,S-Sesshomaru . . .''

Just as you did, Sesshomaru licked the middle of that place. You gasped, shuddering, moaning.

This was new for you, this good-bad feeling. You wanted more, and he gave you more. Your breathing became faster and slight moans as he licked, sucked, nibbled. Your moans got higher as you got closer to your climax and you felt like he was actually enjoying making you so vulnerable.

You felt as if he was enjoying this power he held over you. Enjoyment over deciding how much pleasure you would feel, if you would actually have that wave come over you or not.

You couldn't breathe normally, you just moaned; almost yelled. You felt as if you were being drowned in pleasure, fighting it back, not wanting to drown. Sesshomaru suddenly stopped, telling you in a commanding tone: ,,Relax. Let it come.''

You gasped, feeling the tension rise again over you, trying to follow his order. It worked. You felt your body tense, relax, pleasure ripping it apart. But he didn't stop. Your hands found his head and shoulders which you squeezed in pleasure and pain. You felt sweat form on your skin and yelled for him to stop. You could barely breathe and he finally stopped.

Sesshomaru dragged himself up to your face again, though you did get a glimpse of his member, making you gasp at the thought of _**that**_ inside you. He kissed you again and you returned it, still recovering. When you had gotten back to normal, boldness came over you. You pushed him to his back, which he did willingly. You kissed him a bit more aggressively before you did as he did; go lower. You glanced at his member and back to his face. He raised an eyebrow, smirking. You took it as a sign of encouragement.

You went all the way down, watching his length with uncertainty; how would you do this? You then licked the tip gently. You eyes widened at the taste; it was salty, warm and hard. Weirdly hard. You took the tip in your mouth and sucked. A growling moan was your reward and you looked up with a questioning glance. Sesshomaru did seem to like it. You took more of him in your mouth, your tongue gently swirling around it, sucking gently every now and then. You felt his hands on your head, pushing you lower. You took as much of him as you could without choking but his hands pushed your head lower. You moved up and down and his growling became louder and louder.

You felt more and more taste of him in your mouth and wondered if he would climax in your mouth. You did after all know a little bit about sex, the girls at the village had talked about it, when they were married, but they never talked about using your mouths. Only hands and bodies.

You continued sucking, harder and harder. A throaty moan warned you, then his sperm shot up in your mouth. It was a lot, but you didn't know what else you could do, so you swallowed. He looked pleased. You wiped your mouth, looking unsure of what to do next.

Your eyes traveled over his body. You watched his abs, his muscular shoulders, neck, hair all around on the pillow behind him. He had closed his eyes for a moment, sweat still rolling down his face, disappearing into his hair. You looked lower again; his body seemed relaxed but his member was rising again. You stared at it, hypnotized. You snapped your eyes away from it, blushing heavily; You had just thought back to what you had done. You looked at his face again, his eyes glaring at you. You blushed again, looking away, but Sesshomaru grabbed your arm and pulled you towards him. He pushed you down on the mattress so you were lying on your back and his hand parted your legs. You gasped, losing your breath, losing your confidence; you couldn't do this! This was wrong! You began shaking, trying to push him back: ,,No, wait . . .''

Sesshomaru looked at you again, bent down and told you: ,,This will hurt.''

You looked into his eyes, feeling so scared. He glared at you, bent down and kissed you again. You lost your mind for that split second; this felt so good.

At that precise time he pushed himself inside you. Then he stopped. You gasped loudly; the pain was burning. You had never felt anything like this before. You buried your nails in his shoulder; whimpering as he moved out and in again. You wanted to yell, it hurt so much.

He moved a bit faster, stopping a bit inside before moving out again. It felt as if he was really making an effort not to hurt you. You heard his quickened breaths by your ear, as you felt your pain shy away, pleasure returning. Sesshomaru moved faster and you opened your eyes again, slowly. You looked at his face, just inches away from yours.

His eyes were closed and his hair was stuck to his forehead from sweat and you saw him biting his lips so he wouldn't take you harder and faster, like he obviously wanted to. Then he opened his eyes. He took your silent moans as permission for faster and harder movements.

Sesshomaru thrust harder, deeper; waves of pain disappeared and you moaned louder. His claws scratched you and your nails dug into him. You were screaming his name aloud and he was about to get to his climax. When he did he collapsed down on you and you both wheezed, not able to move a single muscle. You felt him inside you still, your eyes growing heavier. But you also noticed him to be hard in there.

Suddenly Sesshomaru pulled out of you and sat up, pulled you with him. He made you kneel and he pushed your back down. He thrust back inside you and was more like an animal this time. This was wilder, animalistic even. His hands held your hips and moved you to him. You moaned softly and swallowed shallow breaths. This position seemed to last forever, until he bent forward and moved faster. The heat from him was almost unbearable and the air was even thicker now. You body was soar, but you still wanted to continue. This felt so good. You were shaking and feeling a bit lightheaded, and it was like a knot in your stomach. You felt the pleasure spread around your body and gasped. You felt Sesshomaru's hot breath by your ear and his growling and moaning. The pleasure was unbearable and you yelled and whimpered from pleasure. You got to your climax, but he continued making it more and more.

You couldn't hold yourself up anymore and your arms gave up. You lay there on your stomach, he just turned you on your back, with your leg on his shoulder. He continued and you were still getting it. It was hurting and you yelled even louder so he had to cover your mouth.

When he finally got what he wanted, he finally lay down. He was lying on top of you, again you felt the tiredness come over you. Still you wanted more. You panted and felt Sesshomaru's eyes on you. You looked at him. He still had his emotionless expression, only now he was panting slightly. You saw it from the corner of your eye that he still wanted more. You rolled on top of him, sitting on him. You grabbed his _**still **_hard member and guided between your raw flesh, and began to move slowly and carefully, as you expected him to stop you. He didn't do that. His hands again reached your hips and helped you move the way he wanted. You touched his strong arms and loved the way he touched you. You moaned slightly, and Sesshomaru sighed. The speed was increasing and his sighs were turning to growls. You watched his face as he climaxed; his body relaxed. He still was fully raised after all of this. Then you realized. Since he was a dog-demon, could he have to go through the same thing as they? Was he in heat?

You fell down beside him. You were sure you couldn't move anymore. But Sesshomaru didn't allow you to relax. He rolled on top of you and kissed you, wanting so much more. He sucked your lips and neck, one hand sliding down. His fingers played there, you were dripping wet but tired, soar and almost numb. One of his fingers slipped in and you moaned softly as two followed. His fingers moved and explored the inside of you and you jumped when they found the spot.

He was making you crazy by touching it and you gave out a louder moan that before, you felt his lips almost smirk against yours. You couldn't be still and your body squirmed, it was almost as you were trying to get away. He broke your kiss and lowered himself to your lower region. He licked, sucked you again, your body was shaking and you threw your head to both sides. You didn't want more, but your body didn't listen. Slowly he drew his fingers out and put his tongue in. You gasped. His tongue pulled in and out, it moved inside you and he put in two fingers. The climax was near and you yelled in agony.

When you got it, Sesshomaru actually stopped. Then he slid in and pushed in and out. You barely felt anything. He was quick, not in need to think about your pleasure, he got his climax, then he lay down on you and tried to catch his breath again. His face was almost hidden in your hair, his breath in your ear. You were doing the same, though you were in no state to think anything at all. Sesshomaru sighed once more and told you: ,,It is finished.''

You could barely nod, you just sighed, happily. You liked that he was lying on top of you, his scent and the ticklish feeling when his hair touched your bare skin. He was still inside you, so you were as close as a man and a woman can be. Then he rolled of you, but you didn't notice. You were already asleep.

* * *

*Sesshomaru's P.O.V.*

* * *

You watched her sleep peacefully and suddenly realized what had happened. You had taken her virginity. Only you didn't care, in particular. But there might be complication, such as pregnancy. You felt an icy feeling and angrily though to future plans: ,,If she will get pregnant, I will need to kill her.''

The anger dispersed quickly, though. You continued to watch Sayuri's sleeping face, wondering why in the world she did not run away screaming as she had realized what was going on. You really did hate this time. The time when you body ordered you to reproduce, urge you like this.

You reached out, slowly, touching her cheek gently; she really did feel as smooth as she seemed. You were fairly satisfied with her. Specially as you though that this was her first time.

Your finger slowly ran down to her lips then back to her cheek where a lock of hair lay astray. You pushed it off, watching it as her black locks blended with your silver ones. Black and White.

You glared at her; she was your complete opposite. You were too different. This could not happen again. These kinds of mistakes do not repeat themselves.

You thought of what to do with her then; let her leave. To make her walk the lands free; she was able to take care of herself mostly by now. Though you had ruined her chances of marrying a decent man and have a family as she spoke of the other night.

Sudden rage, a hot feeling, rose in your chest; no. She was yours. None had touched her except you and you did not share. You glared at her hard.

She didn't even flinch in her sleep. You had never had another sleep in your bed before. You scoffed and rolled away from her, resting finally.

You did not know it, as you had fallen asleep, but quickly you had turned around again, seeking the warm body beside you and allowed it to snuggle up against your own. You held her protectively, looking content.

* * *

Alright! This is a rather . . . mature chapter. I do still hope you liked it and didn't think it was too . . . crude. Because this is far from being the most obscene chapter of this kind. Heh, awkward.

Anyway, hope you hear from me soon! :)


	11. Chapter 11

...:::***Why Me?***:::... ( Sesshomaru Love Story ) Chapter 11

* * *

Well, dear readers. I just wanted to let you know; today, May 16th, is Sayuri's birthday!

* * *

*Flash Back*

Your finger slowly ran down to her lips then back to her cheek where a lock of hair lay astray. You pushed it off, watching it as her black locks blended with your silver ones. Black and White.

You glared at her; she was your complete opposite. You were too different. This could not happen again. These kinds of mistakes do not repeat themselves.

You thought of what to do with her then; let her leave. To make her walk the lands free; she was able to take care of herself mostly by now. Though you had ruined her chances of marrying a decent man and have a family as she spoke of the other night.

Sudden rage, a hot feeling, rose in your chest; no. She was yours. None had touched her except you and you did not share. You glared at her as if she had mentioned this herself.

She didn't even flinch in her sleep. You had never had another sleep in your bed before. You scoffed and rolled away from her, resting finally.

You did not know it, as you had fallen asleep, but quickly you had turned around again, seeking the warm body beside you and allowed it to snuggle up against your own. You held her protectively, looking content.

* * *

*End of Flash Back*

* * *

*Sesshomaru's POV*

* * *

You opened your eyes. The smell of someone familiar was in your nose and a warm body close to yours. You looked at Sayuri. She was shivering from the cold. She was still asleep though. Why was it so cold?

You sat up and looked around the room. The window was open. You stood up to close it. You looked over your land and remembered the meeting in two weeks. You would be away for another two weeks.

You hated those meetings and wanted nothing more than to get this upcoming war over with and rule the lands yourself. But that wasn't possible for at least the next four or five months.

You closed the window, looking back at the shivering girl. She must have been exhausted, sleeping as tightly as she did. You got dressed and wrapped the sheets around the sleeping girl. You picked her up gently, so you wouldn't wake her. She didn't even stir. Then you walked from the tower holding her and to her room. The hallways were silent and you thought that you wouldn't meet anyone with that girl in your arms. But of course it just couldn't go like that. Rin had to wake up and walked out of her room just as you walked past her room. She blinked tiredly: ,,Sesshomaru-sama?! You are back!''

You told the little girl to be quiet and go back to sleep. She made a face and said that she was scared and didn't want to be alone. You sighed quietly and told her: ,,I need to find you someone to play with.''

,,But I have Yuri-chan . . .'' she objected. You cut her off before she could finish: ,,No. You will leave her alone today.''

The little girl didn't say anything to that. But then she looked at the girl in your arms and wondered: ,,Sesshomaru-sama? Why are you holding Yuri-chan?''

You thought about what to tell her? That you had satisfied your selfish, physical needs for the first time in decades, and it had been with some human girl you had taken into your home? You close your eyes in annoyance and finally said: ,,Go back to sleep, Rin. And do not bother her today.''

Rin nodded, you were glad that she had always been ready to follow anything you told her to, without question: ,,Alright Sesshomaru-sama. Good night!''

She went back inside. You walked in to the girl's room. It was freezing. The balconies had been open for the whole day. You put the girl in her bed and walked to close the balconies. You looked over the land once again before you closed the door firmly.

You hadn't noticed her waking up. You raised an eyebrow when she suddenly spoke up: ,,Things will still be the same, right? Nothing has changed? This was just something you had the urge to do. Right, my lord?''

You didn't move. A part of your mind wanted to protest but the other, more sensible, one agreed. You reached the best decision.

,,Correct. You will never speak of this to anyone. Is that clear.''

She looked down, you felt guilt, she asked: ,,And if I get married in the future? What should I tell my husband? If there will be one?''

Anger flared in your mind; how stupid could she be? Did she really think she could ever marry? You did not share: ,,You _**will not**_ get married. There will _**never**_ be any husband._**You**_ are _**mine**_!''

Silence filled the room. She stared at you surprised. You were surprised. You had sounded calm as you stated this, but you felt everything but calm. Which was odd; you did not say such things.

,,You are Rin's babysitter. You belong here. You cannot leave and get married. Now get back to sleep.''

You hoped that this would be the end of it, you had at least eased the statement of your words; she shouldn't misinterpret. You watched her lay back down and took the covers which were wrapped around her: ,,Yes, my Lord. Here are your covers.''

She handed them to you, and you saw the pain in her eyes when she moved and heard her flinch from the pain. You took the covers and walked for the door. You stopped there and said: ,,You do not have to get out of bed tomorrow. I'll let the servant send you some breakfast. Rin will not bother you either.''

She nodded and thanked you. Then you walked out.

* * *

*Sayuri's POV*

* * *

When you woke up it hurt really bad. Just lying hurt, sitting was worse, and the nicest option was standing. Which was very tiring. You glanced around; clothes? Anything? You pulled yourself up and pulled the covers over you as you very slowly got out of bed.

Suddenly your door was opened and you quickly covered up your naked body a bit better. And it was good you did that. Takehiko came in. The look on his face was cold and he said angrily in a cold politeness: ,,Breakfast, for the lady.''

You raised your eyebrow at him, scowling: ,,Thank you.''

You glanced at the plate on the desk, then back at him as you realized that he wasn't planning on leaving. You asked him, or tried anyway. Your voice was hoarse and raspy, so you cleared your throat: ,,Is there something I can help you with?''

Takehiko stared at you with a cold, blank stare. He then looked around, folding his arms and hissed his question: ,,Where were you yesterday?''

You let the silence settle in before you answered: ,,Why does it matter?''

The fury in his voice was very audible now. You looked away from him as he read over you: ,,Where the hell were you, Sayuri?! I looked all over the castle for you, and you weren't anywhere to be found!''

You shrugged: ,,Then you must have overlooked someplace.''

He pointed an angry finger at you: ,,I did not! I know this castle better than the back of my hand, and I'm well aware that the only place I did not look for you was in the West Tower!''

You glared at him: ,,Who says I was in the castle?''

This time, Takehiko yelled. You winced from the anger emitting from him, not sure why he was so angry: ,,Of course you were! Don't you think I can smell him all over you?! How could you?!''

You looked away from him, to the door, thinking back to last night. You then said: ,,I was asked not to talk about it.''

,,I'll bet!''

You glared at him: ,,I don't know what he might do, he might kill you or he might kill me,'' you sighed and rubbed your face: ,,I'm sorry, Tako, but it wasn't as if I meant for this to happen.''

You stood up and walked over to the food; it was just standard breakfast. You glanced at the angry demon, who was walking to the door. He stopped by the opening, turning to you and hissed: ,,I sure hope you didn't. You have no idea what you have done.''

You shook you head: ,,Probably not.''

He closed the door and left you alone. You felt a tear run down your cheek; you really had no idea what you had done. You ate. You bathed. You felt soar. The water itself stung in unnamed places, but you felt better afterwards. As you were dressing in the bathroom you thought back again. You closed your eyes, feeling woozy. Then a wave of nausea hit you and you bent down over the toilet, the little you ate of breakfast disappearing. You gasped; you hadn't thrown up in a while, but you hated it just as much as you did last time.

You scrambled yourself back together when you had regained yourself and went back to bed. You slumped down, sighing; how come you were still so tired?

You fell asleep quickly, dreaming this time.

_**You were warm. Too warm. You opened your eyes and starred right up to the blazing sun. You felt hard stone under you and it was boiling your skin. You screamed as you soon realized you were stuck to the ground. You yelled for help and a man came. He was in the shadow of the sun, so you couldn't see him clearly, only as a black shadow. He stared at you and you asked him to help you. He didn't move how much you begged. **_

_**You saw him smirk. **_

_**Then you were standing alone somewhere in a forest. You looked around for something familiar, but there was nothing. You looked straight ahead and jumped. There was a young man, stuck to a tree with an arrow. He had white, long hair and dog ears. He seemed like he was sleeping, but you knew he had been slumbering for a long while. You jumped again when you saw a girl come through the trees, she was wearing a weird outfit. It was a green and white shirt, like a man's, but then she had a green skirt, which was a lot to short for any woman to wear in public! You grimaced as you suddenly knew that she was from somewhere far, far away. She was watching the boy, approaching him slowly. She looked as curious as you felt. She stopped in front of him for a moment, you wondered what she was thinking about. Then she touched his ears. You too felt this need to touch them. But then arrows went through you. You didn't feel them. And they almost hit the girl.**_

_**You felt this memory, for that's what it felt like, disappear. This time you were at a village, the girl had been tied up. An old woman was throwing some white stuff at her and stating she was a demon. The girl said that she wasn't a demon. The old lady asked then: ,,Then why were ye found in the forest of InuYasha?''**_

_**You felt your heart skip a beat as you heard the name. "InuYasha" echoed through your body and you saw the face of the young man appear before you. **_

_**Then it was as if you had fallen asleep; it was night. A centipede-demon was attacking. It wanted the Sacred Shikon Jewel. The girl knew that it was after it and the demon thought she had it so she ran back to the forest and towards the light. **_

_**Everything was happening so fast. You had to carefully watch to keep up with everything which was going on.**_

_**You were suddenly back to the demon stuck to the tree. You felt his heart take a beat for the first time in fifty years. He moved his head and looked up. His eyes were glowing golden, anger obviously burning in his heart. You were hypnotized. You jumped when he spoke: ,,I smell it. The blood of the woman who killed me. And it's coming closer.'' **_

_**He reached to draw the arrow out of him but it began glowing and he couldn't take it. He swore. **_

_**Suddenly, the girl was flying through you and landed in front of him, or the tree, the centipede following. **_

_**The man greeted her as Kikyo. You shook your head; no, that was not her. Not even close. The man continued, telling her to kill the centipede as she killed him. She protested, said she was not Kikyo. Her name was Kagome.**_

You sprung up. This dream seemed so real. Again, like it was a memory. You shook your head, trying to shake it off you. You had never seen or heard any of those names. Yet it was like you knew them all. The demon in the tree was definitely InuYasha. The girl was Kagome. And that old lady was . . . Who? Younger sister of Kikyo. Kaede? Who was Kikyo? She was dead. Or so you thought.

You sighed and winced in pain. You still felt this unpleasant feeling in your stomach, but it wasn't as much as first.

You felt so much better after the nap, eager to do something. But you didn't want to forget what you had seen. You stood up, wincing again. But you moved over to your desk, knowing that you had paper and pencils there. You put the food away, and began drawing. You hadn't drawn in a while, but you knew that you had always been pretty good.

You drew the demon stuck in the tree. You enjoyed drawing his eyes, trying to capture the glow from his eyes. But before you had finished, you had begun the portrait of the girl, Kagome. You didn't finish her, but you did try to finish the other drawing.

You smiled at it, wondering just who he was, why did you see him so clearly? You heard noises from the hallway, frowning; this was definitely something not normal. You jumped when your door was pushed open, harshly and the yelling entered your room.

You stared at Natsuko, trying your best to hear words in her yelling and cursing, finger-pointing and glaring. You looked at Takehiko who was trying to get Natsuko to leave, yelling at her, and yelled over her to you that he was sorry, that he was trying to get her to leave, but she didn't. You just shook your head and concentrated on Natsuko.

,,How could you do this?! I thought you were my friend! Then you just go and do something like this, how could you?! I've never been anything but nice to you and I would never, ever hurt you and betray you like this!''

You blinked in confusion; what? Betray? Hurt her . . . What? She was obviously furious, even crying. You stared at her, trying to find out why in the world she would be mad at you . . .

Oh. You glared at Takehiko, who shook his head: ,,I didn't say anything, she figured it out. I _**told**_ you that you had no idea what you had done!''

You rolled your eyes at him. You stood up and let Natsuko continue to scream at you. You waited patiently for her to take a deep breath: ,,You whore! You wouldn't even be alive if it wasn't for him! You don't deserve someone like him, you human wench! You should be . . .''

She took a breath and you glared at her: ,,Dead? Yeah, I'm aware, thank you! But don't you dare put that in the same context as this! You had never even told me that you had _**any**_ feelings at all for him, and then you just storm in here and accuse me of _**betraying**_ you! How can I betray you when you didn't show me trust?! Besides, it was not like I _**planned**_ to do this. And now, please,'' you retreated to your bathroom: ,,I need to use the bathroom.''

You slammed the door back in her face. There were a few seconds of quietness, before she began yelling again. You sighed as you sat down on the toilet; really? She continued to yell as you were washing your hands and got back out from the bathroom. You heard stick words; low-life, human, die, jerk, whore and so on and on. You Went to your balconies and sat down on your banister again. You looked up at the moon, which was still full after almost a whole week. You shivered; eerie. The gypsy seemed to know what she had been talking about.

Suddenly you felt a harsh grip on your arm and you thought of the bruise this would make: ,,Are you even _**listening**_ to me?!''

You looked weary into Natsuko's eyes and told her plainly: ,,No, I'm not. Why should I? You keep on saying the same things, which I know hold no ground against your actions in the past. If you really did love lord Sesshomaru, then you should have done something about it in the first place. You don't just sit there and watch him for afar; that's called a crush.

You don't even know him, Natsuko, because if you did you would know that he will not sit idly by as you continue to make loud noises in his home, seemingly, without a reason.''

Again she was speechless at your response. You looked back out to the yard, wondering if lord Sesshomaru would actually hear any of this. But if you really did know him at all, then you weren't wrong; he would definitely be irritated by the commotion.

,,Well of course he will! The lord will do absolutely everything for his new _**whore**_!''

That felt like a whip. You glared at Natsuko, who was smirking in victory. You hissed icily: ,,Excuse me?''

You saw movement behind Natsuko and you felt all color leave your face. He was standing there, stoic and unmoving. Takehiko turned around when he saw your reaction, bowing instantly: ,,Milord.''

Natsuko turned around as well, blushing with anger and embarrassment. She gasped and bowed: ,,Milord! You're here! You . . . you heard what . . .''

The glare lord Sesshomaru sent her way gave you the chills. He did not like what he had heard. How much did he hear? You bit your lip, anticipating what was going to happen.

,,I did,'' he glanced your way, but said nothing to you. He then glared at Natsuko and Takehiko again: ,,I believe this floor is not meant for servants to roam around without a reason. Yet here you are,'' you felt your heart skip a beat as you watched his lips move, even though everything he said sounded like a death threat. You felt your body get heavier, but you snapped out of it quickly enough, as he said: ,,Too many mistakes in my service will only lead to the end of it.''

Natsuko stared at him, not understanding what he was telling her; too many mistakes would only lead to her death. You stood up, silently and slowly, watching Natsuko. What would she do?

Natsuko just stood there, staring at the lord like a scared deer. You then spoke, smoothly, pushing yourself to her side: ,,I'm sorry, my lord. This whole scene is my fault; I angered Natsuko and she was merely answering my remark in a similar manner.''

Lord Sesshomaru shifted his gaze towards you: ,,Was she now,'' you nodded: ,,Yes, my Lord.''

His eyes suddenly held a spark in them, sending your heart racing. Feeling color being added to your chest as your body began feeling heavier, somehow, in a good way. You held his gaze, parting your lips so you could at least try to breathe normally again. The spark in his eyes glowed and he walked closer towards you: ,,And just what did you do to make her riled up enough to go on and call you my "new whore".''

Yeah, what did you do to make Natsuko angry? Sleep with the man she liked. You couldn't say that. You tried one: ,,I may have insulted her.''

An arched eyebrow made his point clear; did you? You bit your lip; fudge! What could you have done to make Natsuko this angry? Lord Sesshomaru asked: ,,You may have, or did you.''

You took a deep breath, hoping lord Sesshomaru did not know his staff very well: ,,I did, my lord. I was frustrated when Natsuko came in here and I insulted her work, seeing it as she was the closest person at the time, and somehow it evolved into calling her a lazy, low-life demon and a bitch, excuse my language. I let out my frustration on her.''

You wanted to hold your breath; so nervous if this was going to work or not. You knew you were a terrible liar, but you still thought that this was a matter of changing the subject and destroying lord Sesshomaru's bad mood rather than anything else.

Lord Sesshomaru looked over at Natsuko, _**looked**_ and didn't glare. Then he glanced back down to you and asked, a hidden tone of sarcasm in his voice: ,,And if it would have been I coming through that door would you have called me, as you put it, „a bitch".''

You caught yourself staring into his eyes, a smile on your face; was he making a joke? Not a great one, but you still thought it was a joke. You let out a small chuckle: ,,No, my lord. I would most likely have found something fitting for you.''

,,An example.''

You raised your eyebrow, unsure: ,,My lord, would you like for me to be honest?''

,,I do.''

You nodded, humming a bit before you answered: ,,Well, my lord, to be completely honest then, I would most likely have called you a "damn, heartless idiot".''

You gave him the smallest kind of smirk you could muster; you didn't want to seem gleeful. You waited for him to reply, aware that his bad mood was over and you even believed he was slightly amused by your efforts of making the whole thing go away.

You had taken note that Takehiko and Natsuko had backed away from the two of you, unsure of what they were doing. You just watched lord Sesshomaru and what kind of reaction he might have, and couldn't help the smirk getting bigger when he asked with the smallest smirk of his own: ,,I do believe that it was you who so intensely believed me having a heart. Yet you would call me heartless.''

You nodded: ,,Yes, I do believe so, my Lord. I also believe I stated that you simply show it less than the rest of us. But that is of course not mine to know, correct, my lord?''

You looked down to your toes, the intensity of his eyes almost draining your energy. You blushed again, but looked up once he said: ,,No. It is not.''

You nodded again, looking down at your toes: ,,I do hope that my lord will be able to dismiss this matter, this time. I promise this will never happen again.''

,,It better not.''

With that he walked out of the room. You sighed as he disappeared from the door and turned around with a small smirk on your face: ,,Well, that went well, I guess.''

Natsuko stared at you, stunned, until Takehiko hit the back of her head: ,,Stupid! You would have gotten yourself killed if it wouldn't be for her! Thank her!''

You shook your head, thinking back to lord Sesshomaru. You barely believed what had just happened. He made a joke! You called him a _**damn heartless idiot**_ and you didn't even get punished for it. He almost smirked!

,,Killed?! Was that what it meant?! What?!''

You turned to Natsuko, raising your eyebrow: ,,You really did not see that coming?''

She looked at you, tears in her eyes: ,,Oh gods! And you helped me! After everything I said! Why?!''

You looked at her from the corner of your eye: ,,Why? I don't want you to die; that's why.''

She grabbed your hand and squeezed it lightly: ,,But the things I said . . . !''

You shrugged: ,,As I said; I wasn't listening to you. I just heard bits and pieces.''

She gabbed, gasping: ,,And you called him a heartless idiot . . . !

You nodded: ,,A _**damn**_ heartless idiot, at that! I think I've almost called him that already, but I did not see it coming that he would let it slide!'' you grabbed her hand back: ,,And by the way, I didn't mean anything of the things I said about you!''

Natsuko shook her head: ,,Oh no, I know they're not true! You basically saved my life!''

You shook your head and told her: ,,Oh, he wasn't being very serious, really, he was obviously in a bad mood and he was annoyed by the scene occurring and you just needed to try and cheer him up a little, sort of, not really though . . .''

Natsuko stared at you: ,,How do you know him so much? How did you know he was not in a good mood? How . . . you are so amazing!''

You blushed and shook your head, receiving a hug and more squabble. Then Takehiko suddenly said loudly: ,,Okay then! Natsuko, we need to work, as the lord put it!''

Natsuko turned to him and glared: ,,I need to see to lady Sayuri! Can't you see that?!''

He stumbled back from the rage suddenly emitting from the reaction to his suggestion. He raised his hands up in acceptance: ,,Fine. You'll have half an hour, maybe.''

She nodded and he bolted out of the room. You glanced at Natsuko again and asked: ,,You need to see to me?''

She nodded and led you to your bed: ,,Well, not really, but I thought you might want to talk a bit.''

You blushed; did she mean about what happened between you and the lord? You cleared your throat: ,,I wasn't supposed to talk about it.''

Natsuko raised her eyebrows: ,,Sayuri, I'm not as young as I seem to be. I'm almost a hundred and thirteen, I'd have you know. I know you must be _**dying**_ to talk about this, even just a little!''

You bit your lip; well, you did. You were curious if what had happened was normal or not, what you might expect and so on. You had never really talked about sex in any detail and you wondered if it would be alright to talk _**just**_ to Natsuko.

Finally you smirked, unable to stand the temptation of holding this in. You whispered to her: ,,Fine, but don't you dare tell a soul! The lord will have your head for sure!''

Natsuko laughed, but agreed. You whispered to her some of the stuff, not in much detail, unsure which was too personal and which weren't. Natsuko nodded at times, hummed at other, squealed in delight over other things, but mainly she was quiet and thinking.

In the end you dared to ask her: ,,Do you think this was normal? I mean, have you ever . . . ?''

Natsuko laughed: ,,Sure, sure. But I don't know, Sayuri, normal? Is this ever normal?''

You glared at her, not satisfied with the answer: ,,That's what I was asking.''

She shrugged a bit and told you: ,,I'd like to think that every single time is different and unique, but I guess that's just me.''

You were curious: ,,Is it normal in your world to take this kind of thing lightly? I mean, in the human world you have to get married and you don't do . . . _**this**_ with anyone else but your husband.''

Natsuko shook her head: ,,No, it's different for us. It's not as serious as you humans seem to look at it,'' she blushed and told you in a low stutter: ,,We have as many "partners" as we want, we do not judge. Some of us do get sometimes some, umh, periods, where this is necessary and that's just a part of nature. This comes natural to us.''

You nodded, feeling a bit sad; this wasn't special to demons? You asked Natsuko and were glad when she shook her head: ,,Don't think that we don't choose partners fairly. Most of us don't do this with just whoever is ready, but actually put a lot of thought into this,'' she nodded and winked at you: ,,And for your information; I know for a fact that the lord has not had a "partner" for about four decades.''

You blushed again and shook you head with a shy smile: ,,That doesn't mean anything, though. It didn't mean anything to him. It shouldn't mean anything to me, then.''

Natsuko opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. She jumped up and began fixing your bed, loudly telling you: ,,And if there is anything else I can do for you, Saryuri-san, you will let me know!''

You nodded, watching the door opening slowly after you asked them to come in. Rin's head peaked through the crack of the door, a small smile spreading over her concerned face: ,,Yuri-chan!''

You smiled to her and reached out your hand: ,,Hi, sweetie.''

Her smile broadened and she ran towards you and hugged you: ,,Are you okay?! I wasn't allowed to see you today, but I really wanted to give you a kiss goodnight . . . !''

You smiled at the top of the little girls head and bent down to give it a kiss: ,,Of course you can give me a kiss goodnight! You can always give me a kiss goodnight. And I'm so sorry that I couldn't see you today, I really missed you!''

Rin looked up with a bigger smile and her eyes shone: ,,Really?!''

You nodded, and she continued: ,,I missed you too, Yuri-chan, Jaken was so boring and he didn't want to play at all, and then he had to go and meet with Sesshomaru-sama and I had to be all alone . . .''

You gave her a long, fake gasp: ,,_**All alone**_?!''

She nodded and took the chance to try and get you to pity her: ,,Yeah! For a really long time . . .''

You raised your eyebrow and grinned to her: ,,I'm pretty sure you deserved it, am I right? You probably teased him for the whole time!''

The blush creeping over her face made you laugh through her protests, but you kissed her face gently and stroked her hair a few times before you told her: ,,It's okay to tease him a bit, I don't blame you for it! I'd probably have done it too!''

You gave her a long hug before you sent her then off to bed. Natsuko, who had been watching and cleaning for the whole scene smiled at you as Rin skipped out the door: ,,She's really fond of you, Sayuri-san. She never really liked the other babysitters; she never, ever bid them goodnight they way she does you. On the other hand did they never teach her anything, or participate in her games. You do. You're just so full of joy and kindness,'' she looked away from you, which you were glad for. You began feeling your face flushing in embarrassment opening you mouth to ask her to stop when she added: ,,In my opinion you are so pure. I consider myself lucky to have met you and even more fortunate to be able to call you my friend,'' she smiled to you, and walked to the door: ,,But you are tired. I'll leave you now; have a goodnight, Sayuri-san, sleep well.''

She was out the door and had closed it before you could say another word. You stared at the door, scratching your head absentmindedly and you mumbled: ,,She sure can change the mood quickly. Making me all embarrassed . . .''

You moved over to your bed, still feeling sore and tender as you sat down, preparing to finally sleep. You jumped up as a familiar voice said in a low tone: ,,She's right, ya know.''

You sprung up, wincing a bit. You focused at the balconies and rested a hand on your fast-beating heart as you realized it was Kai. You sighed: ,,Kai! You scared me half to death!''

You then realized in what kind of danger he was in by being here and you jumped up: ,,Are you crazy! What are you going here?! You're going to get yourself killed!''

Kai stood just outside the doors to the balconies, peaking in from the moonlight. He glanced around the room, beams of moonlight bouncing off his red hair, making it seem almost black. He walked inside in slow, soundless steps: ,,I don't care, Sayuri. I'd rather die than not being able to tell you how sorry I am.''

You felt confused for a moment; sorry for what? You thought back to when you saw him last, digging through the fresh memory of lord Sesshomaru, finally remembering: ,,Oh, the kiss?''

You felt yourself blush as Kai did the same. He glared at you for a split-second: ,,Yeah, the kiss. What else!''

You nodded, knowing that his outburst was from embarrassment, nothing else. You told him in a low voice, trying to meet him in the room so he would have at least a better chance of escaping if lord Sesshomaru would happen to come by: ,,But Kai, there is nothing to apologize about. Really, things happen. Besides, I'm probably the one who should be apologizing; I just ran away like the stupid child I am!'''

This earned you a chuckle, a smirk and finally headshaking: ,,You are anything but dumb, or a child, Sayuri. You are so much more. You are something so much better than I am.''

You shook your head, remembering Natsuko's words just a minute before: ,,I'm not, Kai. I'm nothing special; just an ordinary human girl.''

Kai shook his head again, his ponytail swinging on his back. The stones embedded in his gloves reflected the bright moonlight as he reached up to push his bangs back: ,,I . . . I thought you didn't come to the forest today because . . . I . . . I don't know . . . I don't know what to say.''

You felt bad for him. You knew that he knew that the kiss in the forest had been a mistake. You knew it had been. You also knew how hard it had to be for him to come here into a feudal lords castle, risking his life trying to utter words which were foreign to him. He wasn't the kind of man who apologized.

You gave him a small smile along with a way out: ,,Don't say anything, then. It's okay.''

He shook his head again, his hand brushing your shoulder lightly: ,,I have never felt like this before. That's saying a lot! I feel like my heart will explode each time I see you, but it skips a beat each time I heard you laugh. When I hear you speak, I just want to listen to you forever. When you're not around I feel like I'm missing something. When you're here, with _**him**_ I want to steal you away.''

His eyes were fixated on the floor, his head shaking ever so lightly. His hands trembled the tiniest bit so he curled them up before he opened them again, watching the soft leather of his gloves return to normal.

You didn't know what to say. Perhaps you knew he wasn't done, just waited for him to continue. Your heart was beating so slowly, almost stopping. Kai's words continued as his eyes finally met yours, filled with some kind of vulnerability you hadn't seen in anyone's eyes before: ,,This is truly the first time I have felt like this. I've lived a pretty long time, Sayuri, if I were human I would be 80 years old.

I don't know why I have these feelings for you, or how I should make them stop. But I don't want to make them stop.''

You continued to look in his eyes. You couldn't imagine how he must be feeling, how scared he must be to tell you so much of his feeling. Kai hardly ever spoke of his likes or dislikes. He barely ever spoke an honest opinion of anything personal.

Kai's hand on your cheek almost made you jump: ,,I don't expect you to say anything, not even to tell me if you return my feelings or not. But I hope you will.''

This was it. You knew he had said everything he came here to say. It was all up to you now; what could you say?

Your mind raced. Words before you were jumbled and weird, you couldn't find any sentences; nothing came right to your mind. You had nothing to say to him.

Kai's eyes shut down suddenly; emotions were hidden again behind a wall. You sucked in air as he turned away from you, towards the balconies. He spoke again: ,,I remember you telling me that a gipsy told you that on your 16th birthday the moon would be full and would continued to be so for a month afterwards. It's been a week and it's still full. Guess the gipsy was right,'' he turned to look at you, shadow casting over his face: ,,I remember someone telling me though, when a moon is full for such a long time after a birthday or a wedding, the person will live an extraordinary life.''

You began hearing your own breath. It was shaky and you felt the cold. A cloud shadowed the moon and the darkness grew: ,,Kai, wait! Please don't leave like this!''

Kai was still looking out to the fields. He continued walking towards the railing as you spoke: ,,Kai, thank you for your kind words. But please don't look at me that way. I'm not as good as you think I am. I am so flawed, just like everybody else; I'm not worthy of your attention or adoration. I know there is someone out there who does, but I don't think it's me,'' your mind began racing again even though your words were still quiet and calm: ,,I'm sorry that I can't help you with this problem. This is something you have to deal with on your own. The only thing I can advise you is to try your best to stay away from me. Maybe your feelings will go in time. If it will help you can try and find all my flaws, too!'' you smiled when this made Kai turn around and face you with a small smile, walking towards you again. He shook his head and told you in a light voice: ,,No. I can't do that. You're just too nice. I guess I'll just deal with things,'' he glanced out to the fields again, adding in a low voice: ,,But please don't avoid me because of this.''

His face suddenly jerked forward, glaring at something behind you. You felt goose bumps form on the back of your neck and you knew instantly that he was here. His stone cold voice just confirmed it: ,,What is he doing in my residence.''

Your body stiffened by the underlying threat: ,,He's leaving.''

You met Kai's eyes for only an instant. He suddenly leaned down quickly and pecked your lips with a teasing smirk on his face, making you blush and gasp in surprise, before he retreated: ,,See. Too innocent, too,'' then he waved as he jumped from the balconies.

You felt as if your body had been frozen. Your limbs were as heavy as tree trunks, but you felt your lips tremble in fear. How would he react? Would he kill you this time?

Sesshomaru's growl woke your body back to life. You turned around, terrified of what you were going to face, feeling you knees weaken as you saw glowing eyes in the darkening room. You swore you heard thunders from afar, but that may just have been your heartbeat. Your voice played before your ears: ,,My lord, he . . . I . . . I didn't know he was going to . . . I . . .''

Lord Sesshomaru growled for one last time, asking: ,,Was that what he came here for.''

You didn't know what to answer; you didn't know how to answer. You lost the ability to speak, stutters and hiccups the only sounds coming from your lips. Tears began to blur your vision; you were going to die now. A gasping yell was the only sound you were able to muster when he pushed you to the nearest wall, hands griping your throat tightly: ,,Answer me. Do not think that I will be any more lenient simply because of that recent scenario.''

You couldn't breathe. Lord Sesshomaru's hand began tightening around your throat and you felt your feet leaving the ground. You weren't able to make a sound, this time from the lack of air. He lifted you so high up that you were now facing him. Your hands were trying to pull his hand off but you knew it was futile; your heartbeat got louder. You mouthed: ,,Please, stop . . . Sesshomaru . . . !''

You barely heard the lords growl, his golden eyes the only thing you could possibly focus on: ,,Those damn eyes. What is it about them that makes me . . . What is it you know.''

Black spots corrupted your vision. You felt your conscience slip away, just as he let you go. You barely felt the pain when you hit the floor, focusing on getting air back into your lungs. You didn't get much time before he had grabbed your shoulder and pulled you up again and pinched you against the wall: ,,Do you not recall anything I said last night.''

You gasped as he turned you around to slam you against the wall again: ,,No! I don't! I'm sorry!''

He leaned towards you, not crushing you as hard against the wall: ,,Then let me refresh your memory; you are mine. Any man who touches you will be killed by my hand. If you touch another man; I will kill him. No one will touch you but me. Understood.''

You nodded, fighting back a sob: ,,Yes, my lord. But why?!''

Lord Sesshomaru turned you again on your back, his nails digging into the skin on your shoulders again. You groaned when he broke the skin and a tear escaped from your eye and rolled down your cheek as he growled at you: ,,You don't need to know my reasons.''

Another sob; why was he doing this? Why was he hurting you so? He was acting so out of character, so aggressive. You reached up to grasp his hand, trying to loosen his grip. You squeezed his hand, begging: ,,Please, lord Sesshomaru, let me go. You're hurting me!''

Lord Sesshomaru let you go so quickly, as if he had burned himself. Your hand followed, but you quickly let go once you saw his eyes staring at it. Touching your bleeding shoulder lightly: ,,To answer your question, my lord,'' you told him calmly: ,,then Kai came here because of something he did earlier in the forest. It was nothing important and I did ask him to leave right away.''

You looked down at your feet, blush creeping up your neck and to your face: ,,As for that kiss; I don't know why he did it. Maybe he wanted to provoke you, or something. Now, if I may, I would like to clean my scratches, my lord.''

You looked up to his face, wondering if you had gone over the line again. It didn't look like it; his eyes just met yours and you swore you felt like an electric jolt go through your whole body. Your body didn't hurt anymore, your heartbeat was going wild and you saw nothing but lord Sesshomaru's eyes and stars.

A booming sound and a blinding light made you blink. Then the sound of soft rain hitting the ground just by you began. Deafening, soothing and sounded perfect.

You felt so intense; you wanted to melt away the cold ice in his eyes, fill up the emptiness his eyes faked, see his heart. From time to time you could see a shadow of something you imagined to be warm feelings, red hot passion melting away the ice, creating a mist of confusion in his mind.

Your breath quickened, as did his. The booming thunders outside made your body feel even more tingly, heartbeat on secret places and your lips felt filled with blood, just waiting to be kissed.

Their prayers were answered; not a moment later lord Sesshomaru grabbed a fistful of hair from the back of your head, making you look up to him just before his lips closed down on yours.

The kiss felt so intense, his lips soft but demanding, his tongue slid between your lips and the kiss deepened even more.

You rested your hands on his chest, but he wanted more; slamming your body against the wall, your arms locked over your head. The pain was so irrelevant, it felt so good; you moaned and whimpered. His body was pressed to yours and you felt as if someone else was controlling your body. Your legs lifted up and wrapped around his waist and your hands were loose from his grasp and pulled him closer to you. Lord Sesshomaru pulled away from the wall, his hands cupping your bottom, squeezing and slid up your back.

Your kimono rolled up your thighs and you pulled his pants lower; you moaned when you found his hot, hard member, ready for you. He entered quickly and you moaned louder this time, though it was muffled by his lips.

As he moved back and forth he began nibbling at your lips, then lowering his lips down to your neck. You moved your hips, hitting the wall again, seeing stars from the pain and pleasure mixing in your body. Out of the blue you came. Soon lord Sesshomaru moaned, signaling you that he has finished himself off as well.

For a while the two of you didn't move. You tried to catch your breath, your throat feeling soar. Heck your whole body felt soar. You slid your legs down from his hips and landed safely on the ground. No words were spoken, the silence was deep. You glanced at the door; pure luck that Rin hadn't walked in on you. You didn't dare to look up at his face, too embarrassed over what had happened, how you had acted, to even think of facing him yet.

You fixed your kimono and watched his feet disappear from before you: ,,You will not mention this to anyone.''

You nodded: ,,I won't, my lord.''

You had looked up from the floor, fixing your hair a bit and watched his back. He had stopped and glanced back: ,,That half-demon touched you in the forest.''

You didn't see why you should lie, let alone that you could lie, so you just nodded as you blushed: ,,Yes, my lord. It was a kiss. It was before our . . . first physical engagement. It didn't matter; I didn't consent to it. I ran away and I hadn't seen him since.''

Lord Sesshomaru didn't answer just began walking towards the door again. As he opened the door he said in such a low voice you barely heard it: ,,Have a good night, Sayuri.''

You couldn't help the shy smile exploding on your face when you heard him say your name: ,,Good night, lord Sesshomaru!''

He closed the door without looking back, but you didn't mind. Lord Sesshomaru had at least come out of is shell a tiny bit, making you feel like flying from happiness. You just hoped that you could help him more with it.

You felt sleepiness drawl over you and it was almost as if the bed was calling you to it, but you knew that you had to wash up as soon as you could; or else all hell would break loose again.

The bath was quick, your eyes grew heavy. The bed welcomes you a few minutes later, a smile stuck on your lips as you slowly drifted into you heavy sleep, exhausted after the emotional roller coaster of the last two days.


End file.
